ornia 


LIBRARY 

University  of 

California 

Irvine 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

IRVINE 


IN  MEMORY  OF 

Fred  Ventura  Stewart 


s 
^ 

8.2  & 


M      Ta     CM     C/i 


TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL 


IN    ITS   RELATION    TO 


PLANTS   AND   BUSINESS. 


A  BOOK  OF  OBSERVATIONS  AND  EXPERIMENTS  FOR  THE 
USE  OF  SCHOOLS,  STUDENTS,  AND  FARMERS. 


CHARLES  BARNARD, 

AUTHOR  OF  "  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  WEATHER,"  ETC. 


The  success  or  failure  of  our  farmers  affects  the  price  of  bread 
on  all  our  tables,  and  we  cannot  say  we  do  not  care  for  these 
things.  Whatever  is  good  for  the  farmer  to  know  is  good  for 
all  to  know. 


BOSTON: 
CHAUTAUQUA    PRESS, 

117   FRANKLIN   STREET. 
1886. 


COPYRIGHT,  1886, 
BY  RAND,  AVERY,  &  CO. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  EARTH'S  CLOTHING. 

L  The  First  Observations.    II.   The  Bones  of  the  World. 

III.  Surface  Indications    ............      1-12 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  GROUND. 

IV.  The  Soil-makers.  V.  Weathering.  VI.  The  Soil  Movers 
and  Sorters.  VIL  Plants  and  Living  Creatures  as  Soil- 
makers  ..................  13-35 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE  SOIL  THE  HOME  OF  THE  PLANTS. 
VIIL  Organic  and  Inorganic.    IX.  Experiments  with  Soils    .    36-47 

CHAPTER  IV. 
KINDS  OF  SOILS. 

X.  Sand  and  Clay.     XI.  Experiments  with  Sand  and  Clay. 

XIL  Sand  Soils  and  Clay  Soils  ..........    48-60 

iii 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V.  PAGE 

THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SOILS. 
XIIL  The  Elements.    XIV.  Soil  Analysis 61-71 

CHAPTER  VI. 
IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS. 

XV.  Taming  the  Land.    XVI.  Tillage.     XVII.  An  Ancient 

Tool.    XVIII.  Experiments  in  Tillage 72-95 

CHAPTER   VII. 

M ANUS— A   HAND. 

XIX.  An  Old  Fable.    XX.  Fertilizers.    XXI.  Plants  as  Fer- 
tilizers.   XXIL  What  to  do 96-116 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ARTIFICIAL  SOILS. 
XXIIL  Potting  Soils.    XXIV.  Making  New  Soils     .    .    .    117-127 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  C.  T.  C.  C., 

HOUGHTON  FARM,  MOUNTAINVILLE,  ORANGE  COUKTY, 

NEW  YORK,  1886. 

THE  Chautauqua  Town  and  Country  Club  is  a 
branch  of  the  Chautauqua  University,  and  is  devoted  to 
the  practical  study  of  plants  and  animals,  horticulture 
and  agriculture.  Its  course  of  instruction  extends  over 
two  years,  and  includes  the  reading  of  the  four  books 
forming  this  series,  and  the  performance  of  a  number 
of  experiments  and  easy  studies  with  plants  and  ani- 
mals. This  is  the  second  book  of  the  required  course 
of  reading,  and  is  to  be  read  by  all  members  during  the 
first  winter  of  the  class  to  which  they  belong.  For  full 
particulars  concerning  the  course  of  instruction,  ad- 
dress Miss  Kate  F.  Kimball,  secretary  of  the  C.  L.  S.  C., 
Plainfield,  N.  J. 

This  book  was  prepared  at  the  Club  Headquarters ; 
and  all  the  experiments  here  described  have  been  made 


VI  PREFATORY  NOTE. 

the  subject  of  study  in  the  experimental  department 
of  the  farm,  under  the  immediate  superintendence  of 
Major  Henry  E.  Alvord,  manager  of  Houghton 
Farm. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHAUTAUQUA 
TOWN  AND  COUNTRY  CLUB. 


THIS  book,  entitled  "Talks  about  the  Soil,"  is  the 
second  of  our  required  course  of  reading.  We  all 
join  in  reading  this  book  at  least  once  during  the 
first  winter  we  are  members  of  the  club.  As  in  our 
first  book,  so  in  this,  you  will  find  a  number  of  novel 
and  instructive  experiments  and  observations.  You 
cannot  fail  to  learn  something  from  each,  and  you  are 
all  earnestly  requested  to  try  as  many  of  the  experi- 
ments as  possible. 

The  examination  papers  that  will  be  sent  to  you 
after  reading  this  book  will  include  a  few  questions 
that  can  be  answered  only  by  trying  the  experiments ; 
and  you  will  find  it  of  advantage  to  try  as  many  as 
possible  in  order  that  you  may  win  our  Chautauqua 
diploma  when  you  graduate.  Trusting  you  will  find 
the  book  of  interest  and  use  to  you,  and  that  it  will 
help  you  in  taking  one  more  step  towards  obtaining 
your  diploma,  I  am 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

CHARLES    BARNARD, 
Superintendent  of  Instruction,  C.  T.  C.  C. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  world  is  a  great  book,  and  he  who  walks  or 
rides  may  read.  We  cannot  get  inside  the  earth ;  and 
so  it  happens  we  do  not  know  positively  how  it  looks 
within  the  thin  crust  on  which  we  live,  nor  can  we, 
except  in  a  very  uncertain  way,  know  of  what  the  in- 
terior is  made  or  in  what  condition  it  may  be.  This 
is  not  of  much  consequence ;  because  the  outside  of 
the  world,  the  part  we  call  the  ground,  and  the  things 
upon  it,  are  quite  enough  to  take  all  our  attention. 
Upon  the  surface  of  the  world  are  the  great  seas,  the 
mountains,  the  plains  and  rivers ;  and  among  these 
things  we  spend  our  lives.  It  is  not  very  convenient 
to  get  off  the  ground,  except  for  a  few  hours  in  a 
balloon  :  so  it  happens  we  must  at  all  times  remain  on 
the  surface  of  this  great  and  wonderful  book  called  the 
Earth  or  the  World.  We  might  board  a  steamer,  and 
sail  upon  the  sea,  and  soon  lose  sight  of  the  land, 
and  yet  all  the  time  we  would  be  comparatively  near 
the  ground.  Beneath  the  deepest  seas  is  still  the  solid 
ground ;  and  the  ship  merely  floats  above  the  crust  of 
the  earth,  upon  the  water.  In  a  few  places,  men  in 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

search  of  coals  or  metals  have  opened  deep  holes 
in  the  ground.  We  might  go  down  into  one  of  these 
mines,  in  the  hope  of  finding  out  something  concern- 
ing the  inside  of  the  world ;  but  we  should  find  it  so 
uncommonly  dark  that  not  a  thing  could  be  seen. 
We  may  carry  a  lamp ;  but  its  feeble  light  only  shows 
rough  rocks  or  glistening  coal,  looking  precisely  like 
the  rocks  and  coals  we  have  seen  on  the  hillsides. 
We  stand  still  a  while  in  the  gloom  of  the  mine,  and 
listen,  in  the  hope  we  may  hear  some  sound  from  the 
interior  of  the  earth  that  may  tell  us  what  is  going 
on  there :  there  is  nothing,  —  nothing  save  intense 
blackness,  awesome  stillness,  deep,  profound,  and  ter- 
rifying. We  may  be  glad  to  escape  up  the  elevator  to 
the  sunshine,  well  content  to  spend  our  lives  upon  the 
solid  ground.  A  trip  in  a  balloon  is  quite  as  unsatis- 
factory. The  sky  seems  just  as  high ;  the  stars,  the 
sun,  and  the  moon  are  no  nearer;  and,  if  we  look 
down,  we  find  the  ground  extends  in  every  direction 
till  it  is  lost  in  the  distance,  —  blue,  indistinct,  im- 
mense. The  air  is  thin  and  cold,  and  we  may  be 
glad  when  the  balloon  voyage  is  safely  over,  and  we 
are  once  more  on  the  good,  old-fashioned  ground. 

So,  it  appears,  we  have  to  spend  our  whole  lives 
upon  one  of  the  planets ;  and  as  we  cannot  get  inside 
of  it,  and  cannot  get  away  from  it,  we  are  really  pris- 
oners on  the  outside  or  surface  of  the  great  star  called 
Earth.  The  air  is  cold  and  thin,  the  caves  and  mines 
are  dismal  and  dangerous.  We  do  not  care  to  stay 
either  above  or  below  the  ground ;  and,  though  we  are 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

prisoners  upon  it,  we  may  be  very  well  satisfied.  On 
the  ground  stand  our  homes ;  out  of  the  ground  come 
our  food  and  clothing,  fruits,  flowers,  grain,  wood, 
precious  metals,  coal,  gas,  iron,  and  all  else  that  goes 
to  make  our  lives  worth  living.  Out  of  this  same 
ground  we  stand  upon,  comes  all  wealth  of  every  kind. 
Certainly  it  is  well  worth  our  time  and  labor  to  -study 
this  stony  surface  of  the  earth.  If  the  ground  is  the 
source  of  so  many  good  things,  we  ought  to  be  well 
acquainted  with  it,  that  we  may  learn  to  win  from 
it  more  food,  more  clothing,  more  wealth  of  every 
kind. 

One  of  the  first  things  we  observe  in  looking  at  the 
ground  is,  that  it  is  in  almost  every  place  covered  with 
plants.  These  plants  we  see  are  good,  some  for  food, 
some  for  useful  woods,  some  for  materials  for  clothing, 
and  others  are  excellent  foods  for  birds  and  animals.  It 
is  through  these  plants  we  gain  wealth  from  the  ground. 
We  have  already,  in  the  first  book  of  this  series  of 
Chautauqua  Talks,  made  a  number  of  observations  and 
experiments,  that  we  might  learn  something  of  the 
relations  of  the  earth  and  the  sun  to  living  plants. 
We  examined  the  effects  of  the  movements  of  the 
earth  upon  plants ;  we  studied  the  effects  of  light  and 
darkness,  the  changes  of  the  seasons,  the  winds  and 
rains,  and  learned  much  that  is  of  value  in  caring  for 
useful  plants  of  all  kinds.  We  have  now  to  consider 
the  home  of  plants,  the  soil  in  which  they  live  and 
grow.  We  shall  in  this  book,  as  in  the  other,  make 
experiments  with  real  things,  and  thus  learn  by  direct 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

personal  observations  of  nature.  We  shall  learn  why 
and  how  the  soil  in  which  plants  grow  was  made,  by 
observing  the  work  still  going  on  about  us  every  day. 
We  shall  endeavor  to  find  out  for  ourselves  what  the 
soil  really  is,  by  trying  experiments  with  it  to  see  how 
it  behaves  under  certain  circumstances.  We  shall  also 
look  at  the  different  kinds  of  soils,  to  see  which  is 
best  suited  to  our  different  plants ;  and  thus  save  our- 
selves from  the  mistake  of  planting  cranberries  on  a 
rocky  hillside,  and  watermelons  in  a  peat-bog,  or  hunt- 
ing for  violets  on  a  sand-bank,  or  pond-lilies  on  a 
mountain-side.  We  shall  see  that  while  there  are  trees 
in  every  State  and  Territory,  these  trees  are  different 
in  different  places,  and  that  this  difference  depends  in 
part  upon  the  ground  in  which  the  trees  stand.  We 
shall  see  that  it  is  not  sufficient  to  learn  from  our 
observations  of  the  sun,  the  wind,  and  rain,  how  plants 
are  affected  by  the  weather.  We  must  know  more. 
We  must  learn  how  plants  feed,  and  where  they  get 
the  food  they  need.  It  is  not  enough  to  learn  from 
our  first  observations,  where  to  place  our  garden,  and 
how  to  arrange  our  plants  in  a  sunny  window.  We 
must  know  how  to  select  the  right  soil  for  the  garden, 
and  how  to  treat  it,  and  how  to  prepare  the  soil  in  our 
flower-pots ;  or  all  our  studies  and  observations  will  be 
so  many  half-facts,  —  good  as  far  as  they  go,  yet  not 
going  far  enough.  It  is  to  these  new  studies,  experi- 
ments, and  observations,  we  now  advance,  remember- 
ing all  we  learned  before,  and  using  our  knowledge  to 
explain  much  that  may  seem  new  and  strange. 


INTRODUCTION.  xiii 

When  we  come  to  look  at  the  ground  closely,  we 
soon  learn  that  it  rests  upon  masses  of  rocks  and 
stone.  Some  of  these  stones  are  very  hard;  others 
are  very  beautiful,  such  as  the  rosy  granites,  the  varie- 
gated marbles,  and  the  blue  slates.  These,  we  see,  are 
capital  building-materials.  Other  stones  are  not  so 
beautiful,  and  make  good  foundation-stones  for  our 
houses;  others  are  soft,  like  soapstone;  others  split 
into  thin  slabs  suitable  for  flagstones ;  others  can  be 
heated,  and  will  melt,  giving  iron,  copper,  and  other 
metals.  In  still  other  stones,  gold  and  silver  are  found. 
Some  stones  will  burn,  some  with  a  bright  flame, 
others  with  much  smoke ;  and  we  call  these  stones 
coals.  All  of  these  various  stones  form,  with  many 
others,  the  crust  or  outside  of  the  earth ;  and  they  are 
often  of  great  value.  At  the  same  time,  we  must 
observe  here  a  distinction.  The  places  where  these 
granites,  slates,  soapstones,  marbles,  and  other  stones 
are  blasted,  cut,  or  dug  out  of  the  ground,  are  called 
quarries.  The  deep  places  where  the  ore-stones  and 
crude  metals  are  obtained  are  mines.  These  mines 
and  quarries  give  us  these  valuable  stones  and  metals, 
and  so  give  us  wealth.  The  work  of  getting  them,  or, 
as  it  is  called,  of  winning  them,  is  the  art  of  mining 
and  the  art  of  quarrying.  While  we  intend  to  study 
the  ground,  these  lines  of  work  would  only  lead  us 
far  astray.  We  are  to  study  the  top,  or  the  immedi- 
ate surface,  of  the  ground ;  and  the  art  of  gathering 
wealth  from  this  thin  skin  or  outside  of  the  ground, 
we  call  agriculture.  We  are  to  begin  by  studying  the 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

rocks,  not  as  quarrymen  or  miners,  but  as  farmers  and 
gardeners.  From  the  rocks  come  all  the  soils.  Thus 
it  is  true  the  world  is  a  great  stone  picture-book,  and 
he  or  she  who  has  eyes  to  see  can  learn  to  read  its 
wonderful  pages.  We  cannot  leave  the  book,  as  long 
as  we  live  ;  we  walk  over  its  pages  every  day,  and  this 
ought  to  make  us  eager  to  understand  it.  It  is  a  book 
full  of  wonders,  full  of  strange  and  curious  things ; 
and,  while  men  have  been  reading  this  book  of  the 
world  for  thousands  of  years,  they  have  never  found 
the  end  of  the  delightful  story. 


TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  EARTH'S   CLOTHING. 

I.  THE  FIRST  OBSERVATIONS. — We  each  of 
us  live  in  a  house.  It  may  be  a  house  in  a  city, 
and  one  of  a  block,  or  it  may  stand  quite  alone  in  the 
open  country.  Perhaps  we  have  only  one  or  two 
rooms  in  a  hotel  or  apartment-house.  It  may  be 
only  a  log  house  with  one  door  and  two  windows. 
Whatever  it  is,  we  call  it  our  home,  the  place  where 
we  live.  We  see  that  it  is  made  of  wood  or  stone, 
bricks,  iron,  marble,  or  other  materials ;  and  we  know 
that  some  one  put  these  together  to  make  our  dwell- 
ing. We  know  it  is  an  artificial  structure.  It  was  not 
found  all  finished  like  a  smooth  bowlder  in  the  fields, 
neither  did  it  grow  out  of  the  ground  like  a  tree. 
We  look  about  the  house,  and  very  soon  find  it  is 
resting  on  something.  We  can  even  go  into  the  cellar, 
and  find  the  very  base  of  the  whole  thing.  Under 
the  house,  whether  it  is  in  town  or  country,  is  the 
ground ;  and  this  we  recognize  was  not  made  by  men. 


2  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

We  go  outside  the  house,  and  find  that  the  ground  on 
which  our  home  stands  extends  in  every  direction  as 
far  as  we  can  see.  To  learn  the  truth  concerning  any 
natural  object,  we  must  study  it,  look  at  it  from  every 
side.  Here  is  a  natural  object,  immense  in  extent, 
of  extraordinary  variety  in  point  of  form,  color,  and 
quality.  Let  us  leave  our  houses,  which  are  only  artifi- 
cial affairs,  and  of  less  interest,  and  examine  this  great 
natural  object,  —  the  ground. 

Perhaps  we  live  in  New  York  City,  say  in  a  cross 
town  street  below  Central  Park.  We  start  out  upon 
an  exploring  expedition,  determined  to  take  a  good 
look  at  the  world,  and  see  what  we  can  learn  about 
it.  Not  very  promising  at  first  sight.  Smooth  flat 
stones  on  the  walk,  rough  oblong  stones  in  the  street. 
We  see  at  once  that  this  is  all  artificial,  and  that  the 
real  earth  is  covered  up  out  of  sight.  We  walk  on  in 
either  direction,  and  perhaps  soon  find  a  place  where 
the  street  has  been  torn  up  for  repairs,  or  where  a 
cellar  is  being  prepared  for  a  house.  Nothing  but 
gray  stones,  glistening  here  and  there  with  specks  of 
silvery  mica.  Then  the  ground  beneath  the  streets 
and  houses  is  rock.  That  is  one  bit  of  truth.  Is  it 
the  whole  truth  ?  Walk  or  ride  down  town  as  far  as 
Astor  Place,  and  then  look  about  for  a  place  where  the 
roadway  or  a  cellar  is  opened.  Here  is  something 
very  different.  There  are  no  stones  to  be  seen ;  and 
in  place  of  steam  drills  and  blasting-powder  to  break 
open  the  hard  rocks,  the  workmen  here  use  shovels  to 
dig  up  the  loose  yellow  sand.  If  the  cellar  is  deep, 


THE  EARTH'S  CLOTHING.  3 

we  see  the  sand  is  laid  in  layers  and  curious  streaks 
and  lines,  and  that  it  appears  to  extend  to  an  indefi- 
nite depth.  We  have  learned  another  truth :  The 
ground  is  rough  rock  that  splits  into  irregular  slabs,  or 
is  loose  sand.  We  have  not  travelled  a  mile,  and 
already  we  have  learned  two  facts.  We  have  also 
learned  that  one  observation  was  not  enough.  The 
second  observation  showed  that  we  should  be  entirely 
wrong  if  we  concluded,  from  the  first  observation,  that 
the  entire  world  was  made  of  splintery  rock  full  of 
sparkling  mica.  It  is  clear  we  must  go  on,  or  make 
still  another  mistake.  Already  we  have  learned  a 
good  rule  in  observing  nature  :  The  whole  truth  is 
found  only  after  many  obsenmtions. 

If  you  live  in  Chicago,  or  Portland,  Me.,  or  Port- 
land, Ore.,  or  in  some  other  place,  look  about  in  the 
streets,  —  or  if  your  home  is  in  the  country,  around 
the  house,  —  and  make  four  observations,  in  four  dif- 
ferent directions,  and  find  out  whether  the  ground  is 
rock  or  sand  or  something  else.  If  we  are  in  New 
York,  we  may  extend  our  explorations  a  little  farther. 
Walking  west  through  the  street,  we  come  in  time  to 
the  Hudson  River.  From  the  end  of  the  docks  we 
can  look  across  the  water,  and  see  a  steep  wall  of  dark 
rock  stretching  along  the  bank  of  the  river.  There 
are  trees  and  perhaps  houses  to  be  seen  on  top  ;  and 
at  the  foot  of  the  black  cliffs,  near  the  water,  there 
appears  to  be  a  gentle  slope  covered  with  trees  or 
grass.  We  know  that  this  wall  of  rock  is  called  the 
Palisades,  and  even  at  this  distance  we  can  see  that 


4  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

the  great  masses  of  rock  must  be  of  a  very  differ- 
ent kind  from  the  whitish-gray  rocks  in  New  York. 
Another  bit  of  truth  :  All  rocks  are  not  of  the  same 
kind  and  color.  Another  day  we  might  go  up  the  river 
above  Yonkers,  and  cross  over  to  the  Palisades,  and 
make  a  regular  study  of  them,  and  find  that  there  are 
many  singular  and  interesting  things  to  be  learned 
from  them.  Just  now  we  must  go  farther  afield,  and 
take  a  wider  look  over  the  ground. 

We  cross  the  river  to  Hoboken,  and  taking  the 
Delaware,  Lackawanna,  and  Western  road,  go  towards 
the  Orange  Mountains.  After  passing  the  tunnel  under 
the  Palisades,  we  come  out  on  an  immense  flat,  cov- 
ered with  tall  grass  and  crossed  by  winding  rivers,  and 
we  recognize  the  great  Hackensack  meadows.  Then, 
the  ground  is  not  all  rock  or  sand.  By  the  edge  of 
the  reedy  banks  we  see  the  black  oozy  peat  and  river 
mud.  Disagreeable  !  Why,  no  !  nothing  is  disagree- 
able if  we  look  at  it  in  a  scientific  spirit.  This  great 
fiord  is  one  of  the  most  peculiar  places  in  the  world, 
and  has  much  to  tell  us  of  the  greatest  interest,  had 
we  time  to  stop.  See  that  hill  off  to  the  north,  like 
an  island  in  this  green  sea.  That's  a  bit  of  the  Pali- 
sades left  out  there  by  itself.  That,  too,  could  tell  us 
a  long  story.  We  ride  on  through  Newark,  and  come 
to  pleasant  villages.  Observe  the  country  roads  and 
the  ploughed  fields.  The  ground  is  red,  and  the  low 
places  wet  and  muddy.  Here  is  something  new,  — 
something  very  different  from  the  meadows,  or  the 
rocks  in  the  city. 


THE  EARTH'S  CLOTHING.  5 

Another  day  we  may  take  the  New- Haven  road,  and 
go  out  as  far  as  Stamford  in  Connecticut.  Here  we 
find  something  wholly  different.  The  land  is  hilly. 
There  are  very  few  level  meadows,  except  along  the 
shore  of  the  sound.  Through  the  grass  in  the  fields 
appear  many  gray  rocks  covered  with  moss  and  lichens. 
The  roads  are  gray  and  stony  and  the  fields  have 
none  of  that  uniform  red  color  we  saw  in  New  Jersey, 
but  show  every  shade  of  brown  and  dark  yellow.  An- 
other day  we  may  take  the  Long-Island  Railroad, 
and  go  out  towards  Far  Rockaway.  Here  is  quite  an- 
other country,  more  level,  with  whiter  fields  and  more 
sandy  roads.  Still  another  expedition  may  take  us  up 
the  Hudson  by  boat,  and  in  two  or  three  hours  we  are 
sailing  among  steep  mountains  covered  everywhere 
with  forests. 

These  observations  of  different  places  about  New 
York  show  us  that  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  full  of 
variety  in  shape,  in  color,  and  character.  The  ground 
is  composed  in  part  of  rocks,  of  sand  and  gravel, 
and  many  other  things.  If  you  are  unable  to  make 
these  journeys  about  New  York,  look  around  your 
home,  wherever  it  may  be,  and  you  will  discover  that 
the  ground  varies  in  color,  surface,  and  in  materials, 
in  every  place.  You  may  live  upon  a  prairie,  where  all 
the  ground  seems,  as  far  as  you  can  see,  to  be  every- 
where the  same  ;  yet  even  here  there  will  be  differences 
between  one  field  and  another.  Examine  the  country 
about  your  home  in  four  different  directions,  —  north, 
south,  east,  and  west,  as  far  as  you  can  conveniently 


6  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

walk  or  ride,  —  and  make  notes  of  all  you  see  concern- 
ing the  surface  of  the  ground.  Note  whether  it  be 
level  or  hilly,  whether  there  are  mountains  near  or  in 
sight,  or  whether  there  be  only  low  rounded  hills  and 
winding  valleys.  Note  also  the  color  of  the  roads 
and  ploughed  fields.  Put  the  date,  the  names  and 
distances  of  the  places,  and  all  these  facts,  on  the 
report,  and,  having  signed  it,  put  it  away  in  a  safe 
place.  The  day  may  come  when  you  will  be  glad  to 
refer  to  it  again. 

We  have  learned  that  the  surface  of  the  world  ex- 
hibits great  variety  in  form  and  color.  We  must  now 
take  up  a  regular  series  of  observations  to  find  out  the 
cause  of  this  variety.  The  most  important  is  the  ac- 
tual surface  or  form,  —  whether  it  be  flat,  or  gently 
sloping,  or  steep  and  rough.  The  color  of  the  ground 
is  of  use  in  helping  us  to  study  it ;  but  just  now  it  is  of 
less  importance,  and  we  will  look  at  the  surface  only. 
In  making  these  observations,  it  will  be  well  also  to 
observe  the  direction  in  which  the  ground  slopes,  — 
whether  it  be  towards  the  sun  at  noon,  or  away  from  it 
in  some  other  direction. 

II.  THE  BONES  OP  THE  WORLD.  —  We  know 
that  animals,  fishes,  and  birds  have  bones.  These 
bones  united  in  various  ways  form  the  creature's  skele- 
ton, and  upon  the  form  of  the  skeleton  depends  the 
form  or  shape  of  the  living  creature.  We  might  con- 
clude that  the  surface  of  the  ground  was  in  like  man- 
ner dependent  upon  some  interior  skeleton  or  bony 
structure.  In  one  sense  this  is  true,  and  in  another 


THE  EARTH'S  CLOTHING.  J' 

it  is  not  exactly  true.  The  hills  and  mountains  have 
been  called  the  "bones  of  the  earth,"  because  they 
are  formed  of  rock  over  which  is  spread  a  thin  layer 
of  soil  in  which  all  plants  grow.  Here  and  there  on 
the  higher  and  steeper  parts,  as  at  the  top  of  the  Pali- 
sades on  the  Hudson  and  other  hills  or  mountains,  the 
rocks  are  bare ;  and  people  have  said  that  the  bare 
bones  of  the  hills  can  at  such  places  be  seen.  This  is 
an  interesting  idea,  and  is  good  because  it  helps  us  to 
get  at  the  real  truth.  All  high  hills  and  mountains  are 
made  of  rock.  The  bare  spots  plainly  show  this,  and 
every  mine  or  oil-well  sunk  in  the  hills  shows  only 
solid  rock,  or  the  remains  of  rocks,  as  far  down  as  men 
have  ever  been  able  to  bore.  The  rocks  are  the  bones 
of  the  hills.  They  are  really  much  more. 

A  skeleton,  as  any  visit  to  a  museum  will  show  us,  is 
composed  of  bones  arranged  in  a  particular  order,  — 
the  bones  of  a  dog  being  arranged  in  one  way,  the 
bones  of  a  pickerel  in  quite  another  way.  There  are 
spaces  between  the  bones,  and  we  recognize  that  every 
creature's  skeleton  is  a  framework  held  together  by 
the  creature's  muscles  and  soft  parts.  It  is  quite  dif- 
ferent with  a  mountain.  It  is  composed  of  rock,  but 
the  rock  is  in  a  mass.  There  is  no  framework ;  and, 
except  in  shape,  the  rocky  mass  of  one  hill  may  be 
just  like  another.  Thus  we  see  that  the  rocks  do  not 
form  a  true  skeleton  for  the  hills  or  mountains.  They 
are  simply  masses  of  rock ;  and  their  shape  or  outside 
surface  depends  upon  many  different  things,  some  of 
them  quite  independent  of  the  rocks  themselves. 


8  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

This  idea  of  the  rocks  being  skeletons  of  the  hills,  we 
thus  see,  is  a  purely  fanciful  notion. 

A  mere  fancy  may  suggest  a  truth.  The  hills  and 
mountains  are  gigantic  masses  of  rock.  What  of  the 
meadows,  the  sandy  wastes  along  the  shore,  the  wide 
prairies  where  not  a  stone  as  big  as  a  walnut  can  be 
found  ?  Is  there  no  rocky  frame  to  these  level  parts 
of  the  world  ?  Certainly.  The  whole  exterior  surface 
of  the  earth  is  rock.  Under  the  prairie,  under  the 
seas,  under  the  wide  pine-barrens  of  the  South,  lie  the 
deep  rocks,  the  foundations  that  hold  up  all  we  can 
see  of  the  world.  A  vast  shell  of  rock  really  makes 
the  skeleton  of  the  earth.  'What  is  under  the  stony 
frame,  we  do  not  know ;  perhaps  more  rock  to  the  very 
centre  of  the  planet.  Perhaps  the  rock  is  glowing 
white  with  heat.  In  the  coal-mine  we  found  it  very 
warm.  Volcanoes  and  hot  springs  plainly  show  there 
is  heat  and  fire  somewhere  below  the  ground.  Where, 
no  one  can  tell.  Perhaps  no  man  will  ever  know.  It 
does  not  matter.  The  rocky  shell  that  completely 
covers  all  from  sight,  securely  holds  us  up ;  and  upon 
its  surface  we  live  and  work.  At  times  there  are 
movements  and  earthquakes  ;  yet  the  planet,  as  a  whole, 
keeps  quiet  and  secure.  The  rocks  make  the  great 
bone-like  frame  of  the  earth,  and  it  is  these  rocks  we 
are  first  to  study.  Over  a  living  skeleton  is  always 
flesh  and  skin,  clothing  it  all  from  sight.  So  it  is  with 
the  earth.  The  rocky  frame  of  the  globe  is  covered 
with  an  outside  skin  of  the  greatest  beauty.  This  skin 
or  outside  part  is  called  the  soil.  It  covers  nearly  all 


THE  EARTH'S  CLOTHING.  9 

the  rocky  floor  of  the  continents  from  sight,  and  upon 
it  we  live  ;  and  from  it  come  plants,  each  having  a  value 
and  beauty  of  its  own  after  its  kind.  This  skin,  or  mask, 
that  hides  the  rocks  that  cover  all  the  planet  is,  com- 
pared with  the  whole  thickness  of  the  earth,  infinitely 
thin.  It  is  at  best  only  a  few  feet  deep,  often  only  a 
few  inches  deep.  It  is  as  if  we  %had  placed  a  blanket 
of  the  thinnest  cloth  over  the  back  of  the  largest  ele- 
phant we  could  find.  The  rocky  crust  of  the  earth, 
from  the  top  of  the  highest  mountain  to  the  bottom 
of  the  deepest  mine,  compared  with  the  thickness  of 
the  earth  from  the  surface  to  the  centre,  is  as  one  is  to 
four  hundred.  If  the  crust  we  are  able  to  measure  is 
only  4  Ju  of  the  thickness  to  the  centre,  how  thin  is  the 
soil  compared  with  the  mass  of  the  earth?  However, 
we  are  ourselves  but  specks  and  mites  compared  with 
the  whole  mass  of  the  globe,  so  we  need  not  trouble 
ourselves  concerning  the  comparative  thinness  of  the 
skin  of  our  planet-home.  We  wish  now  to  study  the 
many-colored  coat  of  the  world,  and  to  do  this  we 
must  begin  with  the  rocks.  We  wish  to  study  the  soil, 
because  from  it  come  plants,  fruits,  clothing,  foods, 
flowers,  and  wealth ;  and  the  soil  is  the  child  of  the 
rocks. 

in.  SURFACE  INDICATIONS.  —  The  miner  pros- 
pecting through  the  country  in  search  of  valuable 
metals  is  guided  in  part  by  what  he  calls  the  "  surface 
indications."  If  the  water  in  the  brooks  is  deep  red, 
there  may  be  iron  in  the  hills.  If  bits  of  worn  and 
weathered  coal  lie  half  hid  in  the  grass  at  the  foot  of 


IO  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

a  cliff,  then  the  edge  of  the  coal-seam  may  crop  out 
somewhere  far  up  the  mountain-side,  from  whence 
these  stray  bits  of  coal  rolled  down.  If  the  man  is 
looking  for  potters'  clay,  he  studies  the  low  places  to 
see  where  the  water  has  collected  in  muddy  pools ; 
after  the  rain-water  has  dried  from  the  pools  and  shal- 
lows, he  sees  the  grqund  has  cracked  into  irregular 
fissures.  The  man  looking  for  fine  white  sand  for 
making  glass  examines  the  road-sides,  and  exposed 
places  along  the  railroad-cuttings,  for  traces  of  sand- 
heaps.  All  these  are  marks  or  indications  on  the  sur- 
face, giving  hints  of  what  may  be  found  beneath  the 
ground.  We,  in  like  manner,  are  prospecting  for  good 
soils ;  and  we  must  first  of  all  look  out  for  surface 
indications. 

Let  us  understand  the  matter  clearly.  Everywhere 
beneath  the  ground  is  solid  rock  continuous  around 
the  entire  world.  If  the  ground  were  everywhere  level, 
as  in  some  of  our  Western  States,  we  might  never 
know  this  till  we  came  to  dig  down  through  the  soil 
in  search  of  coal  or  metals.  Very  likely,  if  the  whole 
world  were  level,  we  might  never  have  heard  of  these 
things.  Fortunately  the  ground  is  not  everywhere 
level.  In  many  places  the  surface  is  crumpled  up  into 
ridges  and  knobs,  so  that  the  rocks  with  all  their 
metals,  coal,  and  'mineral  wealth,  are  in  sight  and 
often  in  easy  reach.  These  raised  places  are  the  hills 
and  mountains,  and  they  form  our  first  surface  indica- 
tions. 

What  is  the  character   of  the  country  about  your 


THE  EARTHS  CLOTHING.  II 

home  ?  Is  it  level  like  a  prairie  for  many  miles  in  all 
directions  ?  Is  it  a  valley  between  hills  ?  Is  it  directly 
among  the  hills  or  mountains,  or  are  there  many  low 
hills  with  small  valleys?  Walk  or  ride  about  in  dif- 
ferent directions,  and  get  at  the  facts  in  your  case ; 
and  put  it  all  down  in  your  note-book,  with  the  date 
and  place  of  the  observation. 

Another  indication  may  be  found  in  the  plants.  Is 
the  country  about  your  home  covered  with  forests,  or 
are  there  cultivated  fields  and  grassy  pastures,  with 
occasional  groves  of  trees?  Are  there  bare  places 
where  no  plants  grow  ?  Do  the  wild  plants  and  grasses 
grow  rapidly  in  the  summer,  or  are  the  wild  plants 
small  and  stunted,  and  of  feeble  growth?  Examine 
the  plants  and  trees,  both  in  fields  and  gardens,  and 
put  down  in  your  note-book  every  thing  you  observe. 

If  there  are  streams  near  by,  look  at  the  water.  Is 
it  clear  or  muddy,  and  what  is  its  usual  color  ?  If  you 
live  near  the  sea  or  the  great  lakes,  note  this  also. 
Observe  the  ploughed  fields  and  gardens.  Is  the  land 
wet  and  sticky  after  a  rain,  or  does  all  the  water  quickly 
disappear  from  the  surface  as  soon  as  the  storm  has 
passed  ?  What  is  the  color  of  the  ground  about  your 
home?  All  these  things  are  surface  indications,  and 
should  be  noted,  and  the  records  kept  for  future  refer- 
ence. By  their  aid  we  shall  be  able,  in  due  time,  to 
decide  upon  the  value  of  any  soil  we  may  see,  with  a 
certain  degree  of  confidence.  If  we  understand  the 
surface  indications  of  the  soil,  we  shall  be  able  to  tell 
pretty  closely  whether  any  field  or  farm  is  valuable  or 


12  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

worthless ;  whether  it  will  give  us  good  crops,  or  only 
poor  and  unprofitable  returns  for  our  labor.  To  make 
these  surface  indications  of  value,  we  must  first  study 
the  past  history  of  the  world,  and  endeavor  to  find 
out  how  the  various  soils  that  cover  the  rocky  frame 
of  our  planet  were  made.  The  soil  is  the  child  of  the 
rocks.  The  rocks  appear  through  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  among  the  hills  and  mountains.  It  is,  there- 
fore, to  the  hills  we  must  look  for  information  concern- 
ing this  varied  and  beautiful  garment  of  the  world, 
we  call  the  soil. 


THE  HISTORY  OF   THE    GROUND,  13 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   GROUND. 

iv.  THE  SOIL-MAKERS. — There  are  two  ways 
of  looking  at  the  history  of  things.  One  is  to  imagine 
that  things  were  first  made  as  they  are  now.  The 
other  is  to  think  that  things  are  as  they  now  appear, 
because  of  many  past  events  that  gradually  shaped 
them  to  their  present  form.  It  has  been  thought  by 
many  wise  men,  in  the  past,  that  the  world  was  made, 
from  the  very  beginning,  just  as  we  now  see  it ;  that 
when  Adam  went  forth  from  the  Garden  of  Eden,  he 
found  the  world  but  freshly  made,  and  precisely  as 
we  see,  it  to-day.  It  has  been  thought  by  other  wise 
men,  that  the  years  of  the  world  are  past  counting ; 
that  our  planet  passed  through  many  long  stages  of 
growth  ;  that  its  present  appearance  is  the  result  of 
infinite  changes,  every  change  being  a  step  upward, 
a  step  toward  improvement.  In  the  opinion  of  these 
men,  the  world,  under  God's  guidance,  grew  to  its 
present  form  through  various  stages  of  growth,  and  in 
each  stage  subject  to  natural  laws  that  have  neither 
change  nor  turning.  These  are  opinions,  and  there 
have  been  good  men  who  have  firmly  held  to  one  or 
the  other  of  these  two  opinions. 


/4  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

The  moment  we  come  to  study  the  rocks,  we  find 
many  things  that  lead  us  to  think  that  this  last  opinion 
must  be  the  truth.  The  geologist  is  the  student  of 
rocks ;  and  his  history  of  the  world,  as  he  reads  it 
in  the  rocks  themselves,  is  the  geological  history  of 
the  world.  This  history,  he  tells  us,  is  still  going  on 
now.  The  rocks  make  their  own  history  every  day. 
Day  by  day,  year  by  year,  the  face  of  the  rocks 
changes.  From  these  changes,  the  geologist  has  rea- 
soned backward  to  the  time  when  the  rocks  began. 
He  has  put  many  observations  together,  and  formed 
what  seems  to  be  a  truthful  story.  We  must  glance  at 
this  story  before  we  can  rightly  understand  why  and 
how  the  soil  under  our  feet  was  made. 

In  the  beginning  God  created  the  universe,  "and 
the  earth  was  without  form,  and  void."  There  is  noth- 
ing we  can  know  beyond  this.  We  see,  far  beyond  the 
little  group  of  planets  we  call  the  solar  system,  vapor- 
ous clouds  of  light  without  definite  form,  vast,  void  of 
life,  perhaps  only  clouds  of  flaming  gas.  Are  these 
the  beginnings  of  a  world  ?  No  man  can  say ;  yet 
they  seem,  to  suggest  the  beginnings  of  a  star,  and  a 
star  is  a  world.  In  like  manner,  our  star,  now  clad 
with  a  cold  skin  of  stone,  may  have  been  a  cloud  of 
fiery  gases  that  through  countless  ages  condensed  into 
a  vast  ball,  swinging  round  the  sun.  In  time  it  became 
more  solid,  and  spent  a  part  of  its  heat ;  for  the  laws 
of  nature,  the  laws  of  light,  of  sound,  electricity,  mag- 
netism, attraction,  and  chemical  action  and  re-action, 
were  at  work  then  as  now.  These  laws  would  tend  to 


THE  HISTORY  OF   THE   GROUND.  15 

produce,  in  time,  a  globe  nearly  round,  with  a  thin 
crust  on  the  outside,  that,  as  the  cooling  and  con- 
densation went  on,  would  shrink  and  shrivel  up  into 
wrinkles  and  ridges.  No  man  can  say  how  slowly  or 
how  rapidly  these  changes  took  place.  God  is  in  no 
haste.  A  million  years  are  as  the  swing  of  a  pendulum 
in  the  clock  of  his  time.  All  the  years,  up  to  the  time 
when  the  first  rocks  appeared,  are  as  the  dust  in  the 
air,  —  past  counting.  Men  have  tried  to  roughly  esti- 
mate them,  but  it  is  like  measuring  a  mountain  with  a 
yard-stick.  We  have  to  be  content  to  call  it  ages, 
and  without  knowing  exactly  what  ages  mean. 

It  is  enough  now  to  imagine  that  there  came  a  time 
in  the  history  of  our  planet  when  the  surface  of  the 
earth  became  hard  enough  and  cool  enough  to  hold 
water.  The  clouds,  driven  off  perhaps  by  the  heat, 
condensed ;  and  scalding  rain  fell  on  the  first  rocks. 
What  these  rocks  were,  or  how  they  looked,  we  can 
only  vaguely  guess.  They  may  have  been  precisely 
like  our  granites  or  like  the  lavas  we  see  to-day  thrown 
out  of  volcanoes.  This  does  not  matter  at  present. 
We  have  only  to  note  that  at  the  time  the  first  rocks 
appeared,  there  were  winds  and  storms,  lightning, 
clouds,  rains,  and  eventually  hail,  snow,  and  ice.  The 
surface  was  probably  very  irregular;  and  the  water 
gathered  in  certain  places,  and  the  dry  land  appeared. 
We  have  observed  in  our  studies  of  the  weather  certain 
laws  governing  the  temperature,  the  clouds  and  rain. 
There  is  no  reason  to  think  these  laws  did  not  prevail 
then.  There  is  every  reason  to  think  that  the  laws  we 


16  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

see  in  operation  to-day  were  in  operation  then.  "  He 
giveth  snow  like  wool.  He  scattereth  the  hoar-frost 
like  ashes.  He  casteth  forth  his  ice  like  morsels  :  who 
can  stand  before  his  cold  ?  He  sendeth  out  his  word, 
and  melteth  them :  he  causeth  the  wind  to  blow,  and 
the  waters  flow."  God  reigns  in  this  planet,  though  it 
be  only  a  mass  of  flaming  gas,  a  ball  of  liquid  fire 
cased  in  a  shell  of  glowing  rocks,  or  the  world  beau- 
tiful where  men  live. 

What  effect  would  these  laws  have  upon  the  first 
rocks?  What  influence  would  the  weather  have  on 
them  ?  The  geologist  tells  us  that  the  first  rocks  began 
to  "weather"  They  were  exposed  to  the  weather, 
and  remarkable  changes  at  once  began.  This  process 
he  calls  "  weathering."  The  result  of  this  weathering 
is  at  last  to  make  soils.  Naturally  we  might  ask  him 
how  he  knows  that.  His  answer  is  very  simple  :  be- 
cause this  process  of  weathering  is  going  on  now  upon 
all  rocks,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  think  it  did  not  go 
on  then.  The  geologist  has  also  another  word,  "  den- 
udation" When  the  first  rocks  appeared,  they  were 
doubtless  soon  thrown  or  crumpled  up  by  the  shrink- 
ing of  the  crust,  into  heaps  and  ridges.  These  prime- 
val hills  began  at  once  to  be  weathered,  —  to  be  torn 
down  and  denuded  by  stormy  winds,  frost,  ice,  rain, 
torrents,  and  floods.  The  moment  there  began  to  be 
a  rocky  crust  to  the  world,  destruction,  wreck,  change, 
and  alteration  began.  The  weather  crumbled  and  broke 
down  the  rocks.  Denudation  set  in ;  and  the  crooked 
began  to  be  made  straight,  the  rough  places  plain,  and 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   GROUND.  I/ 

all  the  mountains  were  brought  low.  The  sea  brought 
its  sledge-hammer  waves  to  smash  and  destroy  the 
rocks.  Frightful  storms  and  cyclones  tore  away  the 
crests  of  the  hills.  Glaciers  ploughed  gigantic  furrows 
through  the  hills,  and  icebergs  scratched  the  very  face 
of  the  hard  rocks.  No  man  was  there  to  see.  Per- 
haps no  living  "creature,  perhaps  not  even  the  lowest 
form  of  plant,  was  yet  alive.  We  guess  at  these  things, 
because  they  are  still  going  on  to-day.  We  see  the 
record  of  past  ages  in  the  rocks  under  our  feet.  These 
things  that  tend  to  alter  and  change  the  rocks,  the 
frost,  rain;  the  air,  storms,  ice,  and  floods,  were  the  first 
soil-makers. 

v.  WE  ATHERING. — Schunemunk  Mountain  forms 
the  western  side  of  the  valley  that  opens  through  the 
rear  of  the  Highlands  back  of  West  Point  on  the  Hud- 
son. The  valley  forms  the  gateway  through  the  moun- 
tains from  Newburgh  to  the  valley  of  the  Ramapo,  and 
offers  a  road  for  the  old  Albany  Turnpike,  and  the 
present  Short  Cut  Railroad  connecting  Newburgh  with 
the  New  York,  Lake  Erie,  and  Western.  From  Hough- 
ton  Farm  the  whole  eastern  face  of  the  mountain, 
extending  north-east  and  south-west  for  several  miles, 
can  be  plainly  seen.  At  intervals  through  the  trees  can 
be  seen  frowning  cliffs  of  dark  rock  deeply  stained  by 
the  weather.  About  half  a  mile  south  of  the  station, 
one  of  these  cliffs  is  quite  near  the  railroad,  and  can 
be  easily  examined.  This  cliff  admirably  illustrates 
weathering,  as  the  work  is  going  on  very  rapidly. 

On  climbing  over  the  fence  by  the  railroad,  and  en- 


1 8  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

taring  the  woods,  the  ground  is  found  to  be  very  rough. 
Through  the  thin  grass  can  be  seen  irregular  fragments 
of  hard  stone.  On  advancing  up  the  hill,  these  rocks 
become  more  plentiful,  till  at  last  the  ground  is 
completely  covered  with  sharp  rough  stones  of  every 
shape.  Presently  we  see  among  these  ragged  rocks 
great  numbers  of  smooth  round  pebbles.  As  we  go 
on,  these  become  more  common,  and  we  find  many 
lumps  or  masses  of  pebbles  bound  together,  and  look- 
ing much  like  plums  in  a  pudding.  We  recognize 
these  as  pieces  of  "  pudding-stone."  The  first  rock 
broken  into  irregular  pieces  is  quite  different  in  color 
and  texture,  and  is  a  trap-rock.  The  particular  names 
of  these  rocks  are  not  now  important.  The  thing  to 
observe  is  that  something  has  smashed  and  broken 
these  rocks  in  pieces.  These  rocks  were  evidently 
once  solid  masses.  Now  they  are  only  ruins,  the  shat- 
tered remains  of  some  mountain.  We  climb  upward 
in  search  of  an  answer.  At  every  step  the  hill  grows 
steeper,  the  fragments  of  rocks  larger  and  more  irregu- 
lar. At  last  we  reach  a  scene  of  the  wildest  ruin  and 
confusion.  Huge  fragments  of  the  pudding-stone  lie 
piled  one  over  the  other,  as  if  hurled  down  from 
the  mountain-top.  Here  a  mass  weighing  tons  has 
ploughed  deep  into  the  ground,  raising  a  mass  of  rough 
gravel  before  it  as  it  slid  down  the  mountain.  Here  a 
great  lump  has  shot  half-way  through  a  tree,  and  is 
barely  supported  at  one  end  as  if  ready  to  fall  with  a 
crash  down  the  hill.  A  fallen  tree  with  every  leaf 
withered  and  yellow  has  a  splintered  trunk,  and  when 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   GROUND.  19 

we  reach  it  we  find  a  mass  of  rusty  rock  has  plunged 
completely  through  it.  Climbing  as  best  we  can  over 
the  wild  confusion  of  smashed  and  broken  rocks  and 
shattered  trees,  we  reach  the  base  of  the  gray  cliff. 
It  is  split  and  splintered  in  every  direction,  and  many 
pieces  seem  ready  to  fall  and  crush  us.  It  is  evident 
this  cliff  is  being  torn  down,  for  here  are  the  fragments 
at  our  feet.  The  work  is  going  on  now,  for  the  fallen 
tree  was  cut  down  this  very  summer.  The  leaves  have 
only  withered  recently,  and  the  splintered  wood  is  still 
fresh.  The  cliff  is  fast  weathering  away. 

What  are  the  causes  of  this  destruction  ?  Is  it  best 
that  this  great  Schunemunk  Mountain  be  thus  torn 
down?  and  what  good  will  come  of  all  this  ruin- 
ous change  ?  We  pick  up  a  mass  of  pudding-stone, 
and  throw  it  down  upon  the  rocks  below,  and  it  bursts 
into  a  thousand  pieces,  and  a  shower  of  pebbles  rat- 
tles over  the  rocks.  Observe  the  color  of  the  stone,  — 
a  dull  red.  The  plums  of  the  pudding-stone  are 
bound  together  with  iron.  It  has  rusted  on  exposure 
to  the  air,  and  falls  apart  easily.  Here  is  our  first  clew. 
The  air  is  at  work  on  the  cliff.  The  oxygen  of  the  air 
is  combining  with  the  iron  to  form  the  red  dust  called 
oxide  of  iron,  and  the  pebbles  being  bound  only  with 
dust  easily  fall  apart.  Here  we  see  the  air  is  an 
agent  in  breaking  down  the  rocks.  The  gases  in  the 
air  act  chemically  upon  all  rocks,  to  disintegrate  and 
break  them  up  into  dust  and  powder.  So  it  has  been 
since  the  first  rocks  appeared.  The  moment  they 
were  exposed  to  the  air,  they  began  to  be  destroyed. 


2O  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

Rub  your  hand  over  the  face  of  the  cliff.  It  is  dusty. 
The  air  attacks  every  part  of  the  surface,  and  it  slowly 
decays  and  turns  to  dust.  In  the  case  of  the  pudding- 
stone,  the  process  is  comparatively  rapid,  because  the 
iron  cement  that  binds  the  pebbles  together  rusts  away 
and  lets  them  free,  just  as  beads  are  let  loose  when 
the  string  breaks.  The  fallen  tree  and  the  vast  heap 
of  shattered  rocks  at  the  base  of  the  cliff  plainly  show 
that  the  destruction  must  be  comparatively  rapid. 
Could  the  air  alone  do  this  ?  From  the  appearance 
of  the  cliff,  there  must  be  other  causes  at  work. 

We  notice  that  the  cliff  is  full  of  cracks.  When  it 
rains,  the  water  must  flow  down  through  all  these 
cracks,  and  lodge  in  countless  minute  fissures  in  the 
face  of  the  rock.  After  a  heavy  rain,  when  the  rock 
is  filled  with  water,  it  may  clear  away,  and  a  sharp,  cold 
wind  come  out  of  the  north-west.  Every  drop  of 
water  freezes  and  expands,  and  bursts  open  the  rock, 
splitting  off  minute  specks  and  scales,  or  throwing 
down  great  lumps  that  crash  through  the  trees,  and 
destroy  every  thing  before  them.  Here  is  another 
and  more  powerful  cause  at  work  breaking  down  the 
rock. 

In  the  summer  there  is  no  frost ;  and  yet  the  rain 
may  be  at  work  washing  moss  and  dust  into  cracks 
already  opened,  and  forming  a  sponge  ready  to  hold 
water  that  freezing  next  winter  will  act  with  still  greater 
force.  \  The  dry  dust  sifted  into  the  cracks  and  open- 
ings formed  in  the  rock  will  also  expand  when  wet,  and 
push  off  small  pieces,  or  start  a  great  mass  that  last 


THE   HISTORY  OF   THE   GROUND.  21 

winter's  ice  left  just  ready  to  fall.  Perhaps  in  this  way 
the  great  lump  that  cut  down  the  tree  not  many  weeks 
ago  was  toppled  over.  The  wind  may  also  in  storms 
brush  off  small  bits  already  loosened  and  ready  to  fall, 
and  occasionally  the  lightning  splits  off  a  fragment. 
Every  rain  that  falls  brings  down  acids  from  the  air  to 
slowly  eat  away  the  rock.  The  sun  warms  the  face  of 
the  rock,  and  helps  to  destroy  it  by  expanding  its 
surface,  and  opening  minute  channels  for  the  sudden 
summer  rain,  that  with  thin  fingers  seeks  out  every 
crack  to  pull  the  rock  to  pieces.  Even  the  mosses 
and  lichens  growing  here  and  there,  and  the  roots  of 
trees  and  plants,  assist  in  the  work ;  and  thus  the  noble 
cliff  reared  so  high  in  the  air,  even  the  mountain  itself, 
is  visibly  falling  in  ruins  before  our  eyes.  Slowly,  in- 
finitely slowly,  but  without  pause,  the  work  goes  on, 
and  has  gone  on  since  that  wild  day  when  with  frightful 
sounds  and  awful  earthquakes,  old  Schunemunk  was 
upraised.  As  we  go  down  the  mountain-side,  we  find 
again  the  fragments  of  trap-rock.  There,  too,  are  the 
ruins  of  some  higher  cliff.  It  is  a  harder  rock,  and  the 
pieces  are  sharp  and  jagged.  The  weather  must  have 
worked  very  slowly,  for  the  edges  and  corners  are 
hardly  dulled.  The  trees  that  spring  up  among  the 
stones  show  they  have  lain  here  for  at  least  fifty  years, 
and  the  stones  are  almost  unchanged  in  that  time. 
The  years  that  passed  while  they  were  slowly  broken 
down  from  their  old  cliff  may  be  numbered  by  hun- 
dreds. No  man  can  tell.  We  can  only  observe  that 
while  the  work  now  going  on  at  the  pudding-stone 


22  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

cliff  is  very  rapid,  this  other  and  probably  much  older 
work  was  very  slow. 

This  weathering  of  the  rocks  has  been  going  on  ever 
since  the  world  began.  Heat,  cold,  water,  air,  ice, 
the  wind,  expansion  and  contraction,  storms,  all  the 
phenomena  we  have  been  studying  in  our  observations 
of  the  weather,  unite  to  break  down  and  destroy  the 
rocks.  The  work  is  still  going  on  every  day.  It  can 
be  seen  easily  all  along  the  Palisades  on  the  Hudson, 
and  on  every  rocky  hill  and  mountain.  Look  about 
among  the  hills  in  your  neighborhood,  and  make  care- 
ful explorations  and  observations  of  the  effects  of  the 
weathering  upon  the  rocks.  Put  down  full  notes  of 
the  work,  whether  it  seems  to  be  going  on  slowly  or 
rapidly ;  and  note  particularly  what  seems  to  be  the 
chief  influence,  —  the  rain,  or  the  frost.  In  some 
places  you  will  find  the  rocks  breaking  down  into  sand, 
dust,  and  powder,  during  every  rain.  In  others  you 
will  find  it  hard  to  tell  whether  the  work  is  going  on  or 
not.  In  all  it  is  going  on,  and  good  observation  will 
soon  enable  you  to  find  out  its  cause. 

From  the  railroad  that  creeps  along  under  the 
shadow  of  Schunemunk,  looking  south,  can  be  seen 
the  profile  of  the  mountain.  The  slope  is  peculiar. 
At  the  top  it  is  abrupt  and  steep  ;  then  it  softens,  and 
with  a  lovely  curve  the  graceful  outline  melts  gently 
away  into  the  level  meadows  of  the  beautiful  valley. 
The  mountain  is  wasting  away;  and  its  ruins  are 
slipping,  slipping  ever,  down  into  the  fertile  valley. 
The  soil-makers  are  at  work  here,  as  everywhere, 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   GROUND.  23 

since  the  rocks  began.  The  weathering  of  the  rocks 
degrades  and  denudes  the  mountains,  and  this  very 
destruction  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  valley.  These 
broken  and  shattered  stones  are  melting  away  into 
sand  and  dust,  and  this  sand  and  dust  helps  to  make 
the  soil  out  of  which  spring  flowers  and  fruits  and 
crops  of  every  kind.  Faster  or  slower,  forever  and 
forever,  the  work  will  go  on  till  the  mountains  are 
brought  low,  and  the  rough  places  are  made  plain. 
Out  of  ruin  and  destruction  come  ever  life  and 
beauty.  Even  the  outline  of  this  rubbish  and  wreck, 
swept  down  from  the  mountain,  makes  a  beautiful 
curve  against  the  sky.  They  call  such  a  sloping  mass 
of  waste  and  broken  material  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain 
or  cliff,  a  talus.  We  see  the  talus  about  the  base  of 
nearly  every  rocky  hill,  and  we  recognize  its  outline 
by  its  wonderful  beauty. 

.  VI.  THE  SOIL  MOVERS  AND  SORTERS.  — In 
our  excursion  to  the  pudding-stone  on  Schunemunk, 
we  observed  the  influence  of  the  weather  upon  the 
rocks.  We  saw  that  heat  and  cold,  water,  air,  rain, 
and  storms,  tended  to  tear  down  and  degrade  the 
mountain.  If  near  our  homes  we  found  other  examples 
of  this  weathering  of  the  rocks,  it  was  only  to  find 
illustrations  of  the  same  thing,  showing  that  the  work 
is  universal,  and  not  confined  to  this  single  mountain 
in  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson.  All  who  live  in  the 
level  portions  of  the  country,  and  are  unable  to  find 
near  their  homes  examples  of  this  work,  will  simply 
note  the  fact  that  this  work  does  go  on  in  all  hills, 


24  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

that  the  tendency  of  the  rocks  is  to  crumble  and  fall 
down  under  the  influence  of  weathering,  and  that  this 
weathering  has  undoubtedly  been  going  on  without 
interruption  since  the  first  rocks  appeared.  We  will 
all,  whether  living  near  the  hills  or  on  the  most  level 
prairie,  now  join  in  still  further  observations  out  of 
doors,  in  the  neighborhood  of  our  homes. 

If  the  mountains  crumble  and  fall  into  loose  heaps 
of  broken  stone,  why  do  we  not  find  the  heaps  just 
where  they  fall  ?  Why  is  there  a  long,  sloping  talus 
at  every  denuded  cliff?  We  might  expect,  from  all 
we  have  learned,  that  there  would  be  masses  of  loose 
stones  about  every  ruined  mountain,  and  that  the 
broad  plains,  like  the  great  valley  between  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  would  be  bare  rock, 
just  as  at  the  beginning.  We  know  that  this  is  not  so, 
and  that  our  prairie  States,  far  from  any  mountains, 
often  have  deep  soils,  rich  in  the  remains  of  long- 
vanished  hills.  We  must  find  the  answer  to  these 
questions  by  observing  what  is  going  on  about  us 
every  day. 

Go  to  the  nearest  brook  or  river  after  a  heavy  rain. 
Observe  the  color  of  the  water.  It  is  perhaps  yellow 
or  brown,  with  mud  and  floating  sediment.  If  you 
cannot  do  this,  observe  the  little  streams  of  water  in 
the  road  or  in  the  street-gutter  at  the  beginning  of  a 
smart  shower.  The  water  is  muddy  and  discolored. 
It  is  evident  the  water  is  carrying  along  many  fine 
particles  of  earth  and  soil.  If  the  stream  is  in  a  hilly 
country,  we  may  observe,  that,  beside  the  fine  mud 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   GROUND.          2$ 

carried  along  by  the  water,  there  is  sand  sweeping 
onward  over  the  bed  of  the  stream.  It  the  stream  is 
a  mere  rivulet  that  quickly  dries  up  after  the  rain  has 
ceased,  we  can  examine  its  bed  when  it  is  dry,  and 
plainly  see  that  the  water  carried  along  sand,  small 
stones,  and  fine  mud.  At  low  stages  of  the  water,  our 
Western  rivers  show  this  very  plainly  wherever  shoals 
and  sand-bars  appear.  Make  full  and  careful  notes  of 
all  that  is  seen  in  such  a  dry  bed,  for  there  are  two 
great  facts  to  be  learned  from  these  observations. 
For  those  who  live  by  the  sea,  the  same  observations 
can  be  made  all  along  the  shore,  at  the  mouth  of 
every  bay  or  inlet  on  the  coast. 

We  have  here  the  great  soil-mover,  —  water.  The 
rain,  falling  on  the  wasting  rocks,  sweeps  away  the  mi- 
nute specks  and  grains  chipped  off  by  the  weather,  and 
carries  them  down  to  the  nearest  streamlet  and  brook. 
These  fine  bits  of  rock  do  not  float,  but  are  suspended 
in  the  water  or  roll  along  the  bed  of  the  stream. 
The  ragged  flakes  and  scales  of  stone  crash  and  grind 
against  each  other.  Every  rough  corner  is  knocked 
off,  and  all  the  pieces  become  rolled  into  smooth  round 
particles.  The  brook  is  a  mill.  It  is  making,  from 
the  chips  brought  down  by  the  rain,  sand.  A  flood 
comes  with-  more  water,  and  larger  pieces  of  broken 
rock  are  pushed  into  the  rapidly  moving  water ;  and 
these,  knocking,  tumbling,  and  grinding  over  each 
other,  are  soon  ground  into  smooth  round  pebbles 
and  gravel.  Onward  rolls  the  confused  mass  of  gravel, 
sand,  and  finer  bits  of  rocks,  grinding  and  polishing 


26  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

each  piece  as  it  goes.  In  time  the  stream  comes  to 
more  level  ground,  and  runs  slower  and  slower.  The 
current,  not  being  able  to  push  the  larger  stones  any 
farther,  leaves  them  all  by  themselves.  As  it  goes 
slower  and  slower,  it  is  still  weaker,  and  drops  the 
coarser  sand,  and  then  the  finer  sand.  Lastly,  the 
finest  dust  suspended  in  the  water  must  be  dropped 
in  smooth  beds  of  mud ;  and  the  water  flows  away  to 
the  sea  quite  clear,  having  left  its  loads  behind  in  the 
lowlands,  and  all  correctly  sorted  out,  —  the  gravel 
by  itself  in  one  place,  the  sand  in  another,  the  fine 
mud  in  another.  Running  water  is  the  great  soil- 
mover.  It  takes  the  broken  fragments  of  rocks  from 
the  hills,  and  transports  the  material  to  distant  plains, 
perhaps  hundreds  of  miles  away.  The  bits  of  rock 
broken  off  by  the  cold  in  the  White  Mountains  may 
be  transported  by  the  Connecticut  River,  and  left 
as  rich  soft  mud  on  the  meadows  about  Hartford. 
The  yellow  mud  of  the  Mississippi  may  drift  a  thousand 
miles  across  the  continent,  and  lay  the  dust  of  Penn- 
sylvania hills  among  the  sugar- plantations  of  Louisiana. 
The  first  rains  that  fell  on  the  oldest  primeval  rocks 
became  the  first  soil-movers ;  and  the  work  has  gone 
on  for  countless  centuries  on  centuries,  precisely  as  we 
see  it  going  on  to-day.  Floods  and  storms  may  have 
hastened  the  work.  Mountains  of  volcanic  dust  may 
have  been  swept  away  by  a  single  storm,  and  scattered 
over  the  plains  for  a  hundred  miles  in  every  direction. 
There  is  every  reason  to  think,  that,  in  the  geological 
past,  the  streams  and  rivers  wore  down  and  carried 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   GROUND.  2/ 

away  whole  mountain  ranges  in  a  very  short  time.  In 
the  West  we  find  that  this  work  of  carrying  away  the 
ruins  of  degraded  hills  is  going  on  now  upon  the  most 
gigantic  scale,  and  from  this  we  can  form  an  idea  of 
what  may  have  happened  long  ago.  Currents  and 
tides  along  the  shore  are  also  movers  of  sand  and 
gravel,  moving  beaches  and  sand-bars  from  place  to 
place,  and  often  changing  the  whole  character  of  the 
coast  for  miles. 

We  observed,  in  studying  the  empty  bed  of  the  riv- 
ulet, that  the  sand  after  the  water  had  subsided  is  left 
in  one  place,  the  fine  mud  in  another.  This  is  often 
shown  on  a  small  scale  in  every  street-gutter ;  and,  to 
the  young  man  or  young  woman  with  eyes,  the  street 
may  be  an  open  lesson  in  the  first  principles  of  geol- 
ogy. Running  water  is  thus  the  great  rock-sorter,  as 
well  as  rock-mover.  The  ruins  of  the  hills  are  not  left 
in  hopeless  confusion  on  the  plains.  The  whole  of  the 
material  is  completely  sorted  :  the  larger  stones  and 
pebbles  are  left  in  one  place ;  the  sand  is  carried 
farther  away,  and  is  left  by  itself ;  and  the  lighter  stuff, 
the  mere  specks  and  scales  of  rock,  are  carried  farthest, 
and  left  also  by  themselves.  We  saw  in  our  studies 
of  the  weather,  that  the  sun  brought  the  water  from 
the  seas,  and  that  the  invisible  vapor  in  the  air  con- 
densed as  clouds  about  the  cold  mountain-tops,  to  fall 
in  rain.  We  now  see  that  this  same  rain  assists  to 
break  down  the  rocky  hills,  and  to  carry  the  ruins  far 
and  wide,  and  leave  the  sand  and  fine  silt  or  mud  on 
the  lowlands  to  cover  the  naked  rocks,  and  form  a 


28  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

home  for  plants  and  grasses.  The  sun,  we  learned,  is 
the  great  rain-mover;  and  thus  it  is  indirectly  the 
great  soil- mover. 

Added  to  the  moving  water  we  have  the  wind,  that 
may  blow  loose  dust  and  sand  long  distances.  Ice 
in  streams  may  push  loose  gravel  before  it  along  a 
river-bottom,  or  even  carry  it  floating  on  the  water. 
These  agencies  —  water,  ice,  and  wind  —  have  been 
sufficient  to  transport  whole  mountain  ranges  from  one 
place  to  another.  All  that  was  required  was  time,  and 
in  the  history  of  the  ground  a  million  years  may  be  as 
one  day  in  our  lives. 

There  is  also  one  other  circumstance  to  be  observed 
in  the  slow  formation  of  the  soil  that  now  nearly  every- 
where covers  the  rocky  shell  of  the  world.  The  sur- 
face rock  itself,  even  where  there  are  no  hills,  slowly 
breaks  up  into  fine  bits,  scraps  and  dust;  and,  the 
surface  being  level,  this  broken  material  left  after  the 
weathering  of  the  ground-rock  may  remain  where  it  is, 
and  thus  slowly  form  a  covering  of  soil  over  the  rock 
itself.  This  process  is  going  on  all  the  time,  and 
slowly  deepens  the  soil  all  over  the  world.  This  fact 
we  must  enter  in  our  note-books  also,  because  it  is 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  every  man,  woman,  or 
child  who  sows  a  field  of  wheat,  or  plants  a  flower- 
seed. 

While  we  have  observed  the  effects  of  weathering 
upon  the  rocks,  and  noticed  how  running  water  tends 
to  move  and  sort  the  loose  material  broken  off  from 
the  rocks,  we  must  not  forget  that  there  have  been  in 


THE  HISTORY  OF   THE   GROUND.          2C) 

the  history  of  the  earth  wonderful  changes  that  have 
also  had  a  great  influence  in  giving  the  surface  of  the 
earth  its  present  appearance.  Earthquakes  have  raised 
mountains  in  the  air.  Volcanoes  have  lifted  enormous 
heaps  of  lava,  dust,  and  ashes  into  the  clouds,  or  scat- 
tered vast  quantities  of  cinders  over  whole  tracts  of 
country.  The  sea  has  rolled  in  upon  the  land.  The 
lands  have  even  sunk  in  the  water,  or  been  raised  up ; 
and  this  many  times  over,  so  that  what  were  once 
shallow  bays  and  lagoons  became  at  last  mountain- 
tops.  Vast  tracts  of  gravel  scattered  by  streams  from 
old  dead  mountains  have  been  hardened  into  stone. 
Deep  black  pools  of  mud  have  been  sunk  and  crushed 
in  earthquakes,  and  turned  to  coal.  Whole  beaches 
have  been  solidified  to  red  sandstones  by  water  charged 
with  iron  filtering  through  the  sand. 

Moreover,  climates  have  changed.  Where  now  we 
have  each  season  snow  and  ice  in  winter,  and  growing 
plants  and  hot  sunshine  in  summer,  there  was  at  one 
time  almost  continual  winter.  It  is  now  thought,  that 
for  a  very  long  time  all  of  New  England,  New  York, 
and  several  other  States,  were  buried  out  of  sight  under 
deep  ice.  This  ice,  like  the  glaciers  we  see  to-day  in 
high  mountains,  drifted  slowly  southward  over  the 
country,  ploughing  up  the  loose  earth,  grinding  the 
hard  faces  of  the  rocks  till  they  were  polished  like 
mirrors,  cutting  deep  grooves  in  the  rocks,  and  push- 
ing enormous  quantities  of  mud,  stones,  and  gravel 
through  all  the  valleys.  Schunemunk  Mountain  bears 
upon  its  smooth  rounded  top  hundreds  of  traces  where 


3O  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

• 

the  ice  ploughed  over  the  rocks.  Some  of  the  stones 
at  the  top  are  to-day  brilliant  with  the  polish  left  by 
the  slowly  grinding  ice.  The  very  ruins  of  the  moun- 
tain were  carried  far  away  to  the  south-east,  and  scat- 
tered over  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  Wherever  we 
find  —  as  in  New  England,  on  Long  Island,  through 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  even  farther  west  — 
rounded  hills  of  gravel,  we  know  the  great  glaciers 
once  covered  all  the  land  deep  in  ice.  When  at  last 
the  seasons  grew  warmer,  year  by  year  the  ice  disap- 
peared, till  now  there  is  not  a  trace  of  it  except  in  the 
terrible  ruin  it  wrought.  Wherever  you  see  a  rounded 
hill  of  gravel,  you  may  be  sure  that  once  the  ice  was 
at  work  making  new  soils.  This  Schunemunk  Moun- 
tain thus  contributed  to  the  soils  of  New  Jersey,  and 
other  mountains  and  hills  far  to  the  north  sent  down 
their  remains  on  the  ice  to  make  the  surface  soil  of 
the  valleys  all  about  old  Schunemunk.  So  great  was 
the  movement  of  soils  caused  by  the  ice  of  the  glacial 
period,  that  in  this  part  of  the  country  we  cannot  be 
sure  that  the  soil  near  any  hills  all  came  from  the  hills 
themselves :  it  may  have  come  from  hills  a  hundred 
miles  away. 

These  changes,  with  others  of  equal  magnitude, 
form  what  is  called  the  geological  history  of  the  soil ; 
and,  if  you  have  time,  it  will  be  well  worth  the  while 
to  study  it  still  more.  In  brief  it  is  this  :  The  rocks 
were  first  formed,  and  then  torn  down  by  the  weather ; 
sorted,  moved  about,  and  re-arranged  into  new  soils 
and  new  rocks ;  and  again  all  was  overturned,  ground 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   GROUND,  31 

up,  transported,  and  sorted  out  again,  —  till  it  is  im- 
possible to  tell  just  how  old  any  particular  soil  may  be. 
Plants  and  living  creatures  also  helped  to  form  new 
soil.  Shell-fish  and  countless  millions  of  tiny  creatures 
swarmed  the  old  seas,  only  to  die,  and  leave  their  shells 
and  skeletons  to  make  new  stones  that  were  afterwards 
lifted  into  hills,  only  to  be  torn  down  again,  and  scat- 
tered far  and  wide  to  form  new  soils. 

VII,  PLANTS  AND  LIVING  CREATURES  AS 
SOIL-MAKERS. —  On  the  rocks  everywhere  to-day 
we  find  lichens  and  mosses  ;  dull,  slow-growing  plants, 
that  live  low,  strange  lives  on  the  bare  face  of  rocks 
where  no  other  plants  could  grow.  With  your  knife, 
scrape  off  these  close-clinging  lichens  and  mosses,  and 
under  them  the  rock  is  dusty.  The  plants  are  slowly 
destroying  the  surface  of  the  rocks,  and  forming  a  thin 
dust  in  which  they  can  find  a  foot-hold  and  live. 
These  plants  perish  in  time ;  and  their  dusty,  powdery 
remains  slip  into  cracks  and  fissures  of  the  rocks. 
Seeds  blown  by  the  wind  lodge  in  these  cracks,  and 
spring  up  and  try  to  live  in  the  scanty  soil.  It  is  a 
soil,  because  the  mosses  powdered  the  rocks,  and 
made  a  fine  stony  dust.  Their  own  remains  also 
added  more  material,  and  the  seeds  found  what  they 
wanted,  —  food  and  a  place  to  grow.  The  plants  from 
the  seeds  perished,  and  their  remains  were  added  to 
the  soil.  In  this  way  all  plants  since  the  world  began 
have  helped  to  form  the  soil.  The  plants  perished  in 
the  changes  that  came  over  the  world.  No  doubt 
many  times  soils  were  formed,  and  trees  grew  for 


32  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL, 

thousands  of  years,  only  to  be  destroyed  and  over- 
turned. Earthquakes,  sinkings  in  the  seas,  showers  of 
dust  from  volcanoes,  floods  and  fires,  swept  away  all 
traces  of  old  soils  and  old  forests,  till  only  the  rocks 
remained ;  yet  in  all  there  was  progress,  and  the  last 
new  soil  formed  of  dead  plants  and  the  remains  of 
more  ancient  rocks  now  covers  all  the  land.  Every 
plant  that  has  ever  lived  helped  in  some  degree  to 
make  a  soil  for  other  plants.  Every  leaf  that  falls, 
every  plant  dying  of  old  age  or  destroyed  by  frost  or 
fire,  leaves  its  gift  for  the  plants  that  are  to  come  after 
it.  We  have  only  to  observe  the  thick  carpet  of  fallen 
leaves  under  the  trees  in  the  woods,  to  see  that  each 
year  the  trees  add  to  the  soil  in  which  they  live.  We 
walk  along  the  edge  of  swamps  and  bogs,  and  see  the 
thick  moss  and  rank  grass  slowly  moulding  away 
beneath  the  water,  and  forming  a  black,  soft  soil,  on 
which  other  generations  of  plants  live,  and,  perishing  in 
turn,  add  more  and  more  to  the  ever-increasing  mass 
of  dead  vegetable  matter.  In  the  past,  long  ages  ago, 
plants  and  trees,  giant  ferns  and  quick-growing  mosses, 
grew  more  rapidly  than  we  ever  see  them  growing 
now.  These  plants,  many  of  them  water-loving  plants, 
grew  apace  in  the  hot,  steamy  climates,  and  in  dying 
left  their  remains  in  ttie  black  swamps  and  muddy 
meadows,  and  contributed  vast  quantities  of  materials 
to  our  soils.  Some  of  these  old  soils,  made  almost 
wholly  of  dead  plants,  afterwards  became  Qwr  coal- 
beds  ;  others,  no  doubt,  helped  to  form  the  deep 
black  soils  of  our  prairies.  Earthquakes  destroyed 


THE  HISTORY  OF   THE   GROUND.  33 

and  buried  whole  forests ;  and  their  remains,  squeezed 
between  the  rocks,  turned  to  stone.  Plants  undoubt- 
edly grew  in  great  abundance  everywhere  they  could 
find  a  foot-hold,  from  the  time  the  first  wild  storms 
tore  down  the  oldest  rocks,  and  made  the  first  scanty 
soils  and  in  turn  helped  to  form  still  other  soils.  We 
see  how  the  rocks  have  contributed  to  make  the  soils, 
but  we  must  also  remember  the  plants.  They  have 
worked  more  slowly,  and  the  proportion  they  give  is 
smaller ;  yet  it  is  an  important  part,  as  we  shall  pres- 
ently see.  Plants  have  flourished  every  summer,  in 
every  portion  of  the  earth  not  covered  with  ice  and 
snow,  for  countless  thousands  upon  thousands  of  years. 
We  cannot  even  guess  how  long  they  have  been  grow- 
ing. And  each  plant,  tree,  and  vine  has  at  last  laid 
down  its  life,  and  left  its  remains  as  a  contribution  to 
the  soil  that  hides  the  bare  and  naked  rocks  from 
sight.  It  is  the  remains  of  plants  that  give  the  black 
color  to  our  soils,  and  give  us  the  deep,  soft,  rich 
soils  of  the  West  where  our  great  crops  grow.  No 
land,  except  perhaps  parts  of  Russia,  has  such  deep 
soils  as  we  possess  in  some  of  our  Western  States 
and  Territories ;  and  these  soils  have  been  largely 
formed  from  the  remains  of  long  dead  and  forgotten 
plants. 

Every  living  creature  has  also  helped  to  form  the 
soils.  Every  fish  and  bird  and  beast  that  has  ever 
lived  since  the  world  began  has  left  its  remains  in  the 
soil.  Sometimes  we  find  their  skeletons  turned  to 
stone ;  and  only  by  these  stony  pictures  —  these  fosils 


34  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

photographs  of  ancient  life  —  can  we  tell  how  and 
where  they  lived.  We  know  they  did  live,  —  that 
every  single  creature,  from  the  shellfish  as  big  as  a  pin- 
head  to  gigantic  mastodons,  has  left  its  remains  in  the 
earth  to  be  turned  to  stone  and  to  soils.  The  sweet 
earth  quickly  melted  the  dead  thing  away,  and  turned 
it  into  soft  soil  where  flowers  and  fruits  might  grow. 
Some  of  these  remains  were  turned  at  last  to  stone, 
only  to  be  weathered  away  by  storms  and  again  turned 
to  soils.  Even  at  this  day,  there  are  whole  islands 
covered  deep  with  yellow  soil  left  by  millions  of  sea- 
birds  that  made  their  homes  on  the  rocks.  We  call  it 
guano,  and  send  ships  to  gather  it  that  we  may  use 
this  pungent  yellow  soil  to  enrich  our  gardens.  Even 
the  earth-worms  we  have  thought  so  useless  and  dis- 
agreeable are  soil-makers.  We  find  in  the  garden-walk 
in  the  morning,  tiny  heaps  of  black  soil  left  over  night 
by  some  creature.  Only  within  a  few  years  was  it 
discovered  that  this  is  the  work  of  the  earth-worms. 
They  burrow  deep  in  the  soil  in  search  of  food,  eating 
the  poor  soil  below,  and  then  leaving  the  undigested 
portions  on  the  surface  as  rich  contributions  to  the 
soil.  And  these  humble  creatures  have  no  doubt  per- 
formed this  work  for  millions  of  years,  and  we  never 
knew  it  until  just  now.  Little  did  they  care.  The 
Creator  gave  them  this  good  work  to  do ;  and  they 
went  on  attending  to  business,  quite  regardless  of  the 
opinion  of  men  who  wondered,  ever  since  the  world 
began,  why  such  creatures  were  made. 

So  it  appears  that  our  soils  are  composed  of  these 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE   GROUND.  35 

three  things,  —  the  remains  of  old  rocks,  the  remains 
of  dead  plants,  and  the  remains  of  living  creatures  of 
every  kind.  Out  of  ruin  come  always  new  forms  and 
new  beauty,  and  out  of  death  comes  the  food  for  more 
life. 


36  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 


CHAPTER    III. 
THE   SOIL  THE   HOME   OF  THE   PLANTS. 

Vin.   ORGANIC  AND  INORGANIC.  —  We  go  out 

in  the  garden,  or  upon  the  cultivated  land  of  the  farm. 
If  it  is  winter,  the  ground  is  hard  and  rough,  or  is 
covered  with  snow.  In  the  Southern  States,  or  in  all 
the  States  in  summer,  we  find  the  ground  is  soft  and 
loose.  Unless  covered  with  grass  or  other  plants,  it  is 
easy  to  dig  a  hole  in  the  ground  with  a  spade.  Get  a 
spade  or  other  tool,  and  try  this.  Dig  directly  down 
into  the  ground.  Observe  what  you  find.  At  the 
very  top  the  loose  earth  is  dark-colored.  As  we  dig 
deeper,  the  color,  whether  it  be  red,  brown,  yellow, 
black,  or  gray,  becomes  of  a  lighter  shade.  The  first 
part  or  top,  that  is  almost  always  of  a  darker  color, 
may  be  from  six  to  ten  inches  deep.  In  some  places, 
as  on  the  prairies  and  along  river- bottoms,  it  may  be 
very  much  deeper.  The  lighter-colored  part  below 
may  be  only  a  few  inches  deep,  or  several  feet  deep, 
this  varying  greatly  in  different  places.  If  we  dig  still 
deeper,  we  come  to  sand,  gravel,  clay,  or  even  rock. 
Whatever  we  find  within  a  few  feet  of  the  top,  we 
shall  certainly  find,  somewhere  below,  the  bed-rock 
that  forms  the  crust  of  the  earth.  This  loose  material 


THE  SOIL    THE  HOME   OF   THE  PLANTS.      3/ 

at  the  very  top  or  surface  of  the  ground  is  called  the 
soil.  For  convenience  it  is  divided  into  two  parts  : 
the  upper  and  usually  shallow  part  is  called  the  soil, 
and  the  deeper  part  is  called  the  subsoil.  These  two 
words,  the  soil  and  the  subsoil,  are  used  in  all  agricul- 
tural science ;  and  as  we  are  considering  this  science, 
we  will  remember  them  and  use  them  in  their  exact 
meaning,  though  it  is  often  quite  proper  on  some 
occasions  to  give  the  name  soil  to  both  soil  and  sub- 
soil. In  some  of  our  States  and  Territories,  can  be 
found  wild  lands  where  no  man  has  ever  cultivated 
the  ground.  In  such  places  we  call  the  soil  virgin  soil, 
because  it  is  untouched,  and  just  as  it  was  formed 
from  the  remains  of  rocks,  plants,  and  living  creatures. 
It  might  be  interesting  to  examine  this  wild  soil,  but 
for  our  present  purposes  we  will  examine  only  the 
cultivated  soils.  We  shall  therefore  understand  the 
word  "  soil "  to  generally  mean  the  soil  and  subsoil  of 
our  farms  and  gardens.  It  is  in  this  soil  that  all  our 
useful  plants  live  and  make  their  home. 

One  of  the  first  difficulties  we  meet  in  any  study  of 
nature  is  the  infinite  variety  of  things  to  be  seen.  It 
is  bewildering  to  think  that  there  are  so  many  kinds 
of  plants.  A  walk  through  the  country,  among  the 
farms,  shows  us  the  greatest  variety  in  soils  also.  Our 
exploring  expeditions  show  endless  variations  in  the 
surface  and  character  of  the  ground.  This  apparent 
confusion  and  perplexing  multitude  of  different  things 
disappear  at  once  when  we  bring  to  our  observations 
the  right  scientific  spirit.  We  must  learn  to  classify 


38  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

things.  We  must  arrange  things  in  groups  and  classes. 
All  the  infinite  variety  in  nature  can  be  easily  brought 
into  order  by  grouping  every  thing  in  two  great  classes. 
Every  thing  we  can  see  or  touch,  even  those  things  we 
can  only  smell  or  feel,  as  the  air  or  a  perfume,  can  be 
grouped  into  one  of  the  two  classes.  It  is  either  an 
organic  substance,  or  thing ;  or  it  is  an  inorganic 
substance,  or  material.  An  organic  substance  is  some- 
thing that  has  been  organized,  or  formed  into  organs 
or  parts,  and  has  life,  or  has  had  life  at  some  time. 
Any  creature,  dead  or  alive,  or  any  part  of  such  crea- 
ture, be  it  a  minute  bit  of  bone  or  part  of  a  wing  or 
feather;  any  plant,  or  remains  of  a  plant,  though  it 
be  only  black  dust  where  some  plant  has  died,  —  any 
thing  that  shows  organized  structure,  belongs  to  the 
organic  class.  All  else,  minerals,  metals,  water,  gases, 
every  thing  that  fails  to  show  an  organized  structure, 
and  that  has  no  life,  and  never  had  life,  belongs  to 
the  inorganic  class.  Look  about  carefully,  and  make 
a  list  of  twenty  organic  and  twenty  inorganic  things 
you  may  find  in  the  house  or  out  of  doors. 

The  soil  and  subsoil  are  composed  of  both  organic 
and  inorganic  materials.  If  you  find  in  any  place 
loose  materials  composed  wholly  of  inorganic  sub- 
stances, or  composed  only  of  organic  materials,  you 
cannot  properly  call  it  a  soil.  A  soil  must  have  both, 
though  in  very  different  proportions.  The  soil  will 
commonly  contain  more  inorganic  material  than  or- 
ganic material.  The  subsoil  will  be  the  same,  except 
that  it  will  generally  contain  a  greater  portion  of 


THE  SOIL    THE  HOME   OF  THE  PLANTS.      39 

inorganic  materials  than  the  soil  immediately  over  it. 
For  instance,  if  any  soil  contains  ninety  per  cent  of 
inorganic  matter,  and  ten  per  cent  of  organic  matter, 
the  subsoil  under  it  may  not  have  more  than  three  per 
cent  of  organic  matter  and  ninety-seven  per  cent  of 
inorganic  matter.  The  reason  for  this  is  plain.  Plants 
and  animals  that  supply  the  organic  materials  live  on 
the  surface  of  the  ground.  Rocks  that  by  weathering 
supply  inorganic  materials  are  below,  and  form  the 
foundation  of  all  soils.  Besides  this,  organic  materials 
are  usually  lighter  than  inorganic  matter  found  in  the 
soil,  and  naturally  the  heavier  material  is  beneath  the 
lighter  material.  There  may  be  places,  however, 
where  this  is  quite  different ;  as  where  a  meadow, 
having  a  soil  that  is  almost  wholly  composed  of  the 
remains  of  plants,  may  be  covered  with  fine  sands 
swept  over  it  by  a  flood  from  the  hills.  The  two  are, 
however,  in  all  cultivated  soils,  mixed  together,  and 
often  so  completely  mingled  that  it  is  very  difficult 
to  separate  them.  Both  organic  and  inorganic  matters 
are  necessary  to  the  existence  of  all  plants  growing  in 
a  soil. 

On  the  Hartford  and  New-Haven  Railroad,  a  few 
miles  north  of  New  Haven,  there  is,  on  both  sides  of 
the  track  for  a  mile  or  more,  a  level  bit  of  country 
where  not  a  tree  or  shrub  or  blade  of  grass  can  be 
seen.  The  ground  is  covered  with  loose  yellow  sand, 
that  in  dry  weather  drifts  hither  and  thither  in  the 
wind.  Before  the  road  was  ballasted  with  stone,  it 
was  a  terrible  place  to  pass,  on  account  of  the  dread- 


4O  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

ful  clouds  of  dust  that  blew  in  the  car-windows.  Here 
is  a  soil  probably  almost  wholly  inorganic.  It  contains 
only  sand,  and  it  is  so  loose  that  no  plants  can  find 
a  footing  in  it.  If  by  chance  seeds  fall  there,  as  no 
doubt  they  do  every  year,  they  cannot  grow ;  because 
the  first  dry  wind  pulls  them  up  by  the  roots,  and  car- 
ries them  away  to  perish,  or  the  drifting  sand*  over- 
whelms them,  and  they  are  suffocated.  Besides  this, 
the  rains  that  fall  there  soak  quickly  away  through  the 
sand,  and  the  plants  die  for  the  want  of  water.  If  you 
never  chance  to  pass  this  curious  place  in  Connecticut, 
look  about  your  own  home,  examine  the  sloping  sides 
of  railroad-cuttings  through  sandy  or  gravelly  hills,  and 
see  if  you  cannot  find  examples  of  a  soil  composed 
almost  wholly  of  inorganic  material  like  sand.  Make 
notes  of  the  color  and  general  character  of  such 
soils. 

In  Orange  County,  N.Y.,  there  is  a  great  boggy  tract 
called  the  Chester  Meadows.  Perhaps  long  ago  it 
was  a  lake,  and  in  time  it  was  completely  filled  up  by 
mosses  and  water-plants.  These  in  dying  left  here  a 
curious  soft  dark  soil.  Perhaps  we  should  not  call  it 
a  true  soil ;  for  it  is  composed  of  only  organic  matter, 
with  a  very  small  portion  of  sand  or  inorganic  matter. 
It  is  a  famous  place  for  growing  onions,  yet  it  has  its 
disadvantages;  for,  being  very  light  and  loose,  the 
plants  do  not  get  a  firm  hold  in  the  ground,  and  it  has 
happened  that  in  a  gale  of  wind  a  whole  crop  of  onions 
has  been  torn  up,  and  blown  away  out  of  sight.  The 
plants,  finding  no  sand  or  heavy  material  in  the  soil, 


THE  SOIL    THE  HOME   OF   THE  PLANTS.      4! 

could  not  anchor  themselves,  and  were  blown  away  by 
the  wind. 

Look  about  your  home,  and  see  if  there  are  any  soils 
near  that  are  composed  largely  of  remains  of  plants, 
or  organic  matter.  Make  full  notes  of  the  place,  its 
color  and  general  character.  Observe  it  just  after  a 
rain,  and  see  if  it  is  wet  like  a  sponge.  Nearly  all  our 
useful  plants  object  to  wet  feet,  and  refuse  to  live  in 
these  organic  soils  because  they  are  so  full  of  water. 

On  Cape  Cod  in  Massachusetts,  there  are  many 
bogs  and  low  places,  filled  with  a  mass  of  dead  vege- 
table-matter that  forms  a  black  soil  almost  wholly  or- 
ganic in  character.  In  such  places  the  cranberry-vine 
will  grow  finely,  provided  the  soil  is  artificially  prepared 
for  it.  To  do  this,  the  farmers  cart  clear  sand  into  the 
bogs,  and  spread  it  over  the  damp,  peaty  mass  of  dead 
plants.  On  this  mixture  of  organic  and  inorganic 
materials,  the  cranberry  flourishes  wonderfully.  It  is 
not  blown  away  by  the  wind,  nor  does  it  wilt  for  want 
of  water,  or  perish  from  too  much  water.  Such  arti- 
ficial soils  show  just  how  the  mixture  of  organic  and 
inorganic  matter  in  certain  proportions  must  be  found 
in  all  good  soils. 

Suppose,  when  you  are  walking  about  making  your 
notes  upon  the  soils  near  your  home,  you  found  a 
field  composed  almost  wholly  of  an  inorganic  sand. 
Suppose  in  another  place  you  found  a  black,  boggy 
meadow,  with  only  organic  peat  for  a  soil.  Neither 
of  these  places  is  fit  for  useful  plants,  and  yet  each 
contains  just  what  the  plants  need :  each  place  has 


42  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

the  materials  of  a  good  soil.  What  would  you  do  with 
such  a  place  ?  How  could  the  sandy  field  be  improved, 
and  made  to  bear  good  crops  ?  Clearly,  the  thing  to 
do  here  is  to  bring  that  black  organic  peat  and  muck 
from  the  bog,  and  put  it  on  the  sandy  field.  Here 
our  observations  are  beginning  to  be  of  value.  We 
are  coming  to  see  the  value  of  agricultural  science. 
Perhaps  the  sandy  field  does  not  produce  enough  to 
pay  the  taxes.  Perhaps  the  bog  is  a  dead  waste,  pro- 
ducing nothing  of  value.  Bring  the  result  of  your  ob- 
servations to  bear  on  the  subject.  Get  cart  and  horse, 
and  carry  the  organic  material  from  the  bog  to  the 
inorganic  material  in  the  sandy  field,  or  take  the  sand 
to  the  bog.  Bring  the  two  together,  and  make  a  new 
artificial  soil  where  useful  plants  will  grow,  to  give  us 
food,  or  supply  food  for  cows  that  may  give  us  milk, 
cheese,  and  butter. 

DC.  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  SOILS.  —  Our  obser- 
vations have  shown  us  that  a  soil  composed  wholly  of 
inorganic  materials,  or  wholly  of  organic  materials, 
does  not  make  a  good  home  for  plants.  A  few  plants 
may  manage  to  live  in  a  field  of  sand  made  from  in- 
organic rocks  ;  but  their  lives  are  very  uncertain,  and, 
even  if  they  manage  to  live,  they  are  not  plants  of  any 
value.  We  do  not  call  them  useful  plants.  They  are 
neither  wheat,  roses,  nor  good  red  cabbage.  The  use- 
ful plants  that  give  us  wealth  from  the  ground  will  not 
thrive  in  such  a  soil.  A  large  number  of  wild  plants 
will  grow  in  bogs  and  peaty  meadows,  but  for  a  first- 
rate  garden  such  a  place  is  not  of  any  value.  The 


THE  SOIL    THE  HOME   OF  THE  PLANTS.      43 

soil  composed  almost  wholly  of  organic  materials  is 
wet,  spongy,  and  loose,  and  makes  a  poor  home  for 
vegetables  or  flowers.  Either  place  may  be  admirable 
for  a  garden  if  properly  treated  by  mixing  the  organic 
and  inorganic  materials  together.  At  once  it  becomes 
plain  that  we  must  have  some  means  of  deciding 
whether  any  particular  soil  has  too  much  or  too  little 
of  either  of  these  two  classes  of  material. 

First  we  may  look  at  the  surface  indications.  These 
are  the  color  of  the  soil,  and  the  position  it  occupies, 
the  plants  growing  upon  it,  and  the  amount  of  water 
to  be  seen  on  the  surface  just  after  a  rain.  Soils  com- 
posed almost  wholly  of  inorganic  materials  are  full  of 
sand  ;  and  such  sands  are  gray,  white,  and  light  shades 
of  yellow  or  red,  the  most  common  colors  being  gray 
and  white.  Organic  soils  are  composed  usually  of  the 
remains  of  plants,  and  these  are  black  or  dark  brown. 

The  position  of  the  soil  —  whether  it  be  at  the  top 
of  a  hill,  or  on  the  side  of  a  hill  near  the  top,  or 
near  the  bottom,  or  in  a  level  place  —  is  another  indi- 
cation. Organic  materials  are  always  lighter  than 
inorganic  matter,  and  in  running  water  will  travel  the 
farthest,  and  be  the  last  to  sink.  In  a  fall  of  rain,  the 
water  running  over  the  surface  of  a  gentle  slope  may 
sweep  away  all  the  organic  matter,  and  leave  the  inor- 
ganic behind.  This  makes  it  plain,  that  of  two  fields, 
one  on  a  hill-top  and  one  in  a  valley,  the  hill  field  will 
have  more  inorganic  matter  than  the  lower  field  in  the 
valley ;  in  like  manner,  the  lower  field  will  have  more 
organic  than  inorganic.  In  a  field  occupying  a  hill- 


44  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

side,  the  lower  part  of  the  field  will  be  richer  in  the 
remains  of  plants  and  animals  than  the  upper  part. 

In  a  low  field  where  water  collects,  we  shall  find 
water-plants,  —  cat's-tails,  ferns,  and  cardinal-flowers  ; 
on  the  sandy  hillsides,  the  blueberry  and  wild  aster 
and  mullein-stalks.  A  bare  and  sandy  plain,  where  no 
plants  can  be  found,  will  have  a  soil  almost  wholly 
inorganic.  A  level  meadow  overrun  with  sphagnum 
moss  will  have  a  pure  organic  soil.  On  the  sandy 
place  we  shall  find  the  water  disappear  through  the 
soil  the  moment  the  rain  ceases  to  fall :  on  a  dark  soil, 
composed  of  organic  remains,  the  water  may  remain 
for  weeks  after  a  storm. 

For  those  who  live  on  farms  or  near  farm-lands,  the 
best  plan  in  making  these  surface  observations  is  to 
select  from  different  spots,  in  different  directions  from 
the  house,  and  to  make  notes  of  each  place,  —  the 
position  and  color  of  the  soil,  and  the  amount  of  water 
to  be  seen  after  a  rain,  —  and  to  make  a  sketch-map 
of  the  places,  and  to  decide  from  the  observations 
which  soil  is  chiefly  organic  and  which  chiefly  inor- 
ganic, and  to  put  all  the  data  on  the  map.  For  those 
who  cannot  do  this,  the  best  plan  is  to  observe  differ- 
ent fields  seen  on  walks  and  rides  or  from  a  car- 
window,  and  to  learn  to  decide  on  the  character  of  a 
soil  from  its  surface  indications  by  making  repeated 
practice  observations. 

Having  decided  from  these  indications  what  is  the 
probable  character  of  the  soil  of  any  particular  field, 
we  can  next  take  up  some  of  the  actual  soil,  and  ex- 


THE  SOIL    THE  HOME   OF  THE  PLANTS.      45 

periment  with  it  to  find  out  how  far  the  surface  indi- 
cations are  correct.  We  begin  by  selecting  a  pleasant 
day  when  the  ground  is  dry,  and  with  a  spade  and 
basket  dig  up  about  a  peck  of  the  soil  from  the  surface 
of  the  nearest  garden  or  flower-bed.  Place  the  peck 
of  soil  on  a  board  or  on  a  newspaper  in  a  round  heap, 
and  with  the  hand  or  a  trowel  stir  it  about  till  com- 
pletely and  thoroughly  mixed.  Then  pile  in  a  heap, 
and  carefully  divide  it  into  four  equal  parts.  Take 
one  of  these  quarter-parts,  and,  placing  it  by  itself,  stir 
and  mix  it  again.  The  object  of  all  this  work  is  to  get 
a  fair  sample  of  the  soil.  Next  weigh  out  of  this  last 
lot  half  a  pound  of  the  soil,  and  spread  it  on  a  board 
or  table  in  some  sheltered  place  to  dry.  If  near  an 
open  window  or  in  a  warm  room,  it  should  be  com- 
pletely dry  in  twelve  hours  or  in  one  night.  To  hasten 
the  drying,  it  should  be  stirred  or  turned  over  occa- 
sionally with  a  trowel.  When  quite  dry,  weigh  it  care- 
fully again.  It  will  be  found  much  lighter  than  when 
first  taken  from  the  ground.  This  loss  of  weight 
comes  from  the  water  it  held  ;  and  we  must  here  make 
a  record  of  the  actual  loss  by  drying  in  the  air,  or,  as  it 
is  called,  in  "  air-drying."  Next,  place  the  soil  in  a 
pan  or  flat  dish,  and  place  it  in  a  hot  oven  or  other 
warm  place  for  at  least  three  hours  or  even  longer. 
This  is  "  kiln-drying,"  or  fire-drying  it ;  and  in  weigh- 
ing it  again,  it  will  be  found  to  be  still  lighter.  It  is 
now  dry  soil,  and  we  can  begin  to  estimate  the  pro- 
portion of  inorganic  matter  it  contains.  Place  a  flat 
iron  shovel  (a  fire-shovel  will  do)  over  a  hot  fire,  and 


46  TALK'S  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

put  the  dry  soil  on  it,  and  let  it  burn,  stirring  it  occa- 
sionally as  it  burns.  It  will  smoke,  and  slowly  smoul- 
der away  to  dust  and  ashes.  When  it  ceases  to  smoke, 
and  is  quite  burned  up,  carefully  weigh  the  ashes. 
This  ash  represents  the  inorganic  and  sandy  parts  of 
the  soil.  All  the  organic  portions  disappeared  as 
smoke.  We  record  the  whole  experiment  in  this 
way :  — 

8  ounces  of  fresh  soil. 

2  ounces  lost  in  air-drying. 

6 

2  ounces  lost  in  kiln-drying. 

4 

3  ounces  lost  in  burning. 

I  ounce  of  ash,  or  inorganic  matter. 

We  can  get  at  the  percentages  of  water  and  organic 
and  inorganic  matter  in  this  way  :  — 


8 

2 

2    +    I 

5  =  0.25 

6 

2 

2   -r  ! 

5  =  0.25 

4 

3 

3  +  J 

5  =  0.37^ 

4-8  =  0.124 


Counting  out  the  water,  or  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
whole,  we  find  that  in  four  ounces  of  dry  soil,  three 
ounces  were  organic  and  one  ounce  inorganic ;  or, 


THE  SOIL    THE  HOME   OF  THE  PLANTS.      4/ 

seventy-five  per  cent  of  one,  and  twenty-five  per  cent 
of  the  other.  Another  soil  might  show  a  very  different 
proportion,  and  only  in  the  richest  garden-soils  in  low 
lands  will  so  large  a  proportion  of  organic  matter  be 
found.  Select  soils  from  different  fields,  and  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  same  field,  and  repeat  this  experi- 
ment. Try  also  subsoils  obtained  by  digging  down 
below  the  soil.  Make  careful  notes  of  every  experi- 
ment, and  compare  them  with  the  notes  already  made 
of  the  same  fields  or  gardens.  If  the  amount  of  ash 
is  very  large,  it  is  probably  a  very  poor,  sandy  soil.  If 
the  amount  of  ash  is  very  small,  it  is  probably  a  peaty 
or  boggy  soil.  In  all  things,  test  carefully.  Leave 
nothing  to  guess-work ;  and,  above  all,  make  accurate 
records  of  every  thing  done,  and  at  the  time  it  is  done. 
Never  leave  the  records  to  be  made  the  next  day. 
Have  pencil  and  note-book  always  in  the  pocket,  and 
record  every  thing  in  detail,  and  add  the  date,  and 
sign  with  your  full  name.  This  is  the  true  scientific 
spirit  and  method  of  work. 


48  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

KINDS  OF  SOILS. 

x.  SAND  AND  CLAY.  —  In  making  our  studies 
of  the  rocks  as  giving  some  of  the  materials  of  soils, 
we  paid  no  attention  to  the  many  different  kinds  of 
rocks.  Our  observations  have  shown  us  that  soils  are 
largely  composed  of  inorganic  matter ;  and  this  matter, 
we  have  seen,  comes  from  the  rocks.  It  is  important, 
then,  to  get  from  the  geologist  some  general  idea  of 
how  the  rocks  are  classified.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
know  the  name  of  every  variety  of  rock,  provided  we 
are  able  to  classify  them  in  a  general  way  whenever 
we  see  them. 

Get  a  piece  of  sandstone,  a  piece  of  granite,  and  a 
bit  of  chalk.  The  sandstone,  if  not  in  the  fields  or 
hills  near  your  home,  can  be  found  at  any  stone-yard, 
as  it  is  one  of  the  most  common  building-stones  in 
this  country.  Granite  is  used  in  all  our  large  cities 
and  towns,  for  paving-blocks.  Do  not,  however,  take 
the  black  trap-rocks  formerly  used  so  much  for  paving- 
stones.  Granite  used  in  our  streets  is  usually  white  in 
color.  If  possible,  use  a  microscope,  or  at  least  a 
strong  magnifying-glass,  in  examining  these  three 
stones.  The  granite  appears  to  be  formed  of  crystals 


KINDS  OF  SOILS.  49 

or  parts  of  crystals,  thin  scales,  broken  bits,  and 
ragged  scraps  of  different  materials,  thrown  together 
in  a  confused  mass.  Look  next  at  the  sandstone.  It 
appears  to  be  formed  of  small  grains,  each  one  rounded 
and  worn  as  if  rolled  in  the  water.  It  is  made  of  sand 
arranged  in  layers  and  lines  and  cemented  together. 
Under  the  glass,  the  grains  of  sand  can  be  plainly 
seen.  By  rubbing,  the  sand  can  be  rubbed  out  of  the 
stone.  Hold  the  piece  of  chalk  over  a  tumbler  of 
water,  and  brush  or  nib  it  till  the  dust  falls  and  makes 
the  water  white  and  muddy.  Let  this  settle ;  and 
then,  after  pouring  the  water  off,  spread  some  of  the 
soft  sediment  in  the  tumbler  on  a  piece  of  glass,  and 
examine  it  under  the  microscope.  The  white  powder 
appears  to  be  composed  in  part  of  minute  shells,  and 
bits  of  broken  shells.  These  three  samples  of  rock 
represent  the  three  great  classes  into  which  all  rocks 
have  been  divided  :  the  granite  belongs  to  the  igneous 
or  fire-formed  rocks;  the  sandstone  represents  the 
sedimentary  or  water-formed  rocks ;  and  the  chalk 
came  from  the  organic  rocks,  or  rocks  formed  from 
the  remains  of  shellfish  laid  down  as  sediment  on  the 
bottom  of  some  old  sea.  The  sedimentary  rocks  are 
the  most  abundant  in  the  world,  because  they  are 
composed  of  the  remains  of  all  kinds  of  rocks.  They 
are  divided,  in  turn,  into  three  classes  or  groups, — the 
conglomerates,  or  pudding-stones,  composed  of  gravel 
bound  together  into  solid  rock ;  the  sandstones,  com- 
posed of  sand  cemented  together;  and  the  shales, 
made  from  fine  silt  or  mud  hardened  into  stone. 


50  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

Among  the  igneous  rocks  are  the  granites,  sienites, 
basalt,  trap-rocks,  porphyry,  lavas,  and  volcanic  stones. 
Among  the  organic  rocks  are  chalk,  coal  or  stone 
formed  from  the  remains  of  plants,  and  limestones 
formed  from  the  remains  of  minute  creatures  from  the 
sea.  The  sedimentary  rocks  may  include  materials 
from  every  one  of  these.  The  shales  and  sandstones 
come  from  the  remains  of  weathered  rocks  worn  down 
into  mud  and  sand,  and  re-formed  into  rock. 

Rock  itself,  whatever  its  character,  is  not  a  soil. 
Even  when  broken  up  and  sorted  out  into  gravel,  it  is 
not  a  true  soil.  Only  the  sands  and  fine  silts  make  the 
real  soils  of  our  fields  and  gardens.  It  is  plain,  that 
this  process  of  weathering,  sorting,  and  forming  into 
sands  and  silt,  has  been  going  on  a  long  time,  and  that 
vast  quantities  of  the  material  have  been  turned  to 
sandstones  and  shales  :  the  original  materials  of  the 
soils  must  by  this  time  be  therefore  completely  mixed 
together.  This  is  true,  and  from  this  comes  in  part 
the  great  variety  in  all  our  soils.  All  this  weathering, 
tearing  down,  transporting  and  sorting  in  streams  and 
rivers,  has  been  going  on  for  countless  ages  upon  ages. 
The  land  has  sunk  in  the  seas,  only  to  rise  again  and 
be  cast  up  as  mountains.  The  very  floor  of  the  sea 
has  been  bent  and  doubled  up  to  form  lofty  hills.  Ice, 
floods,  glaciers,  earthquakes,  and  terrible  storms  have 
mixed  the  rocks,  sand,  and  silt  in  hopeless  confusion. 
It  is  quite  useless  to  think  we  can  tell  much  about  any 
particular  soil  in  our  fields,  from  the  rocks  in  the  hills 
near  by,  or  deep  under  the  soil  itself.  All  we  can  do 


KINDS  OF  SOILS.  51 

is  to  take  the  two  materials  from  the  rocks  of  every 
kind,  —  the  sand,  and  the  fine  dust  or  silt  which  we 
will  now  call  clay.  The  sandstones  represent  sand 
turned  to  stone,  the  shales  represent  clay  turned  to 
stone.  These  two  in  turn  also  become  sand  and 
clay,  and  these  two  form  the  larger  part  of  all  our 
soils. 

XI.  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  SAND  AND  CLAY. 
—  Procure  from  a  sand-bank,  —  or,  if  you  are  in  town, 
from  the  nearest  stonemason's  yard  or  from  the  dealer 
in  building-materials  —  a  quart  of  clear  sand.  Spread 
it  out  in  the  sun  to  dry ;  and  when  perfectly  dry,  place 
a  small  quantity  on  an  iron  spoon,  and  hold  it  over  a 
hot  fire.  The  heat  has  no  effect  upon  it ;  and  even  if 
thrown  in  the  fire,  it  remains  unaltered  except  perhaps 
in  color.  Remove  the  spoonful  of  sand  from  the  fire, 
and  it  will  be  found  that  the  sand  keeps  its  heat  for 
a  long  time.  Place  a  small  quantity  of  the  sand  in  a 
fine  sieve,  and  pour  water  over  it.  The  water  at  first 
flows  away  more  or  less  discolored,  and  presently  runs 
quickly  through  the  sand  pure  and  clean.  While  wet, 
the  sand  sticks  together  slightly.  Place  it  in  the  air, 
and  it  soon  dries,  and  the  grains  are  as  loose  as  before. 
Place  a  little  of  this  washed  sand  from  the  sieve  in  a 
bottle  filled  with  water.  Cork  the  bottle,  and  shake 
it  up.  The  sand  will  be  moved  about  as  long  as  the 
water  is  in  motion ;  but  the  instant  the  bottle  is  at 
rest,  it  falls  to  the  bottom,  and  forms  a  layer  under  the 
clear  water.  Place  some  of  the  sand  in  the  sun  or  in 
an  oven  till  perfectly  dry.  Place  three  tablespoonfuls 


52  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

of  water  in  a  saucer,  and  then  pour  carefully  into  the 
saucer  about  a  cupful  of  the  dry  sand.  It  becomes 
wet  round  the  bottom  of  the  little  heap  while,  still  dry 
at  the  top ;  soon  the  water  appears  to  creep  up  the 
sand,  and  in  a  short  time  it  is  all  wet,  and  it  remains 
wet  as  long  as  there  is  water  in  the  saucer. 

These  experiments  show  us  that  sand  is  not  affected 
by  heat,  and  that  it  keeps  heat  for  some  time ;  that 
water  passes  through  it  readily,  and,  if  clean,  the  water 
passes  through  the  sand  pure  and  clean.  When  wet 
it  is  very  slightly  sticky,  when  dry  this  stickiness  dis- 
appears completely.  In  water  it  sinks  the  moment 
the  water  is  at  rest.  Water  will  rise  through  it  easily 
by  capillary  attraction. 

Another  experiment,  taking  more  time,  is  to  place 
some  clean  sand  in  a  flower-pot  or  saucer,  wet  it,  and 
then  sprinkle  over  it  fine  grass-seeds,  water-cress, 
spinach,  or  other  small  seeds.  Place  in  a  warm  room, 
and  the  seeds  will  soon  sprout,  and  send  small  roots 
down  into  the  wet  sand. 

These  simple  experiments  also  show  some  of  the 
characteristics  of  all  soils  composed  largely  of  sand. 
We  observed  that  sand  when  heated  retained  its  heat 
for  some  time.  Any  soil  having  a  large  proportion  of 
sand,  when  warmed  by  the  sun,  will  keep  the  heat 
after  the  sun  has  set  or  is  hid  by  clouds.  It  is  there- 
fore a  warm  soil  for  plants,  and  favorable  to  their 
growth.  The  watermelon  and  other  heat-loving  plants 
grow  well  in  a  sandy  soil.  We  proved  that  water  will 
flow  quickly  through  it.  A  sandy  soil  is  therefore  a 


KINDS  OF  SOILS.  53 

dry  soil,  and  for  this  reason  favorable  to  nearly  all  our 
useful  plants.  Water-cress  seems  to  enjoy  plenty  of 
water,  and  a  sandy  soil  is  therefore  unsuited  to  it. 
Our  common  garden  and  field  plants  object  to  wet 
feet,  and  prefer  more  or  less  sand  in  the  soil  where 
they  live.  We  saw  that  water  will  rise  through  sand 
by  capillary  attraction  :  this  is  useful  in  any  soil,  be- 
cause in  dry  weather,  if  the  subsoil  is  damp,  water  will 
rise  through  the  sand  to  feed  the  roots  of  the  plants 
growing  in  the  soil. 

However,  there  are  also  objections.  Sand,  we  saw, 
is  loose,  and  easily  moved  about  by  water.  A  sandy 
soil  is  therefore  easily  washed  away  by  rains,  and,  if 
too  sandy,  may  suffer  great  injury  by  washing  in  heavy 
storms.  Water,  we  observed,  flows  quickly  through 
sand ;  and,  if  any  soil  contains  too  much  sand,  every 
rain  that  falls  upon  it  washes  down  the  light  organic 
parts  of  the  soil,  that  are  needed  to  supply  the  plants 
with  food,  into  the  subsoil  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
plants.  This  washing  away,  or  leaching-out  as  it  is 
called,  may  be  so  injurious  that  the  plants  can  find 
nothing  on  which  to  feed,  and  so  perish.  A  very 
•sandy  soil  may  be  so  light  that  it  is  also  injured  by 
being  blown  about  by  the  wind. 

We  observed  that  sand,  whether  wet  or  dry,  is  easily 
moved  in  the  hand.  This  is  important  in  another 
respect.  All  soils  where  plants  are  growing  must  be 
frequently  stirred,  to  let  the  air  come  to  the  soil,  and 
to  destroy  the  weeds.  A  sandy  soil  is  easy  to  hoe  or 
plough,  because  the  sand  is  loose.  This  saves  labor, 


54  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

time,  and  money,  on  work  in  caring  for  plants,  and  is 
a  commercial  or  business  advantage. 

If  you  carry  out  the  experiment  with  seeds  planted 
on  sand,  you  will  observe  that  the  roots  of  the  young 
plants  easily  find  their  way  into  the  sand  in  search  of 
food  and  water.  This  shows  us  that  a  soil  containing 
sand  is  favorable  to  the  growth  of  plants,  because  in  it 
their  roots  easily  spread  in  every  direction. 

Procure  a  small  lump  of  pure  clay  from  some  clay- 
bank  or  brick-yard,  or  purchase  a  piece  of  moulding- 
clay  from  the  dealer  in  art-materials.  Place  it  in  a 
warm  place  to  dry,  and  in  a  day  or  two  it  becomes 
like  a  soft,  impalpable  powder.  Pinch  a  little  of  it 
between  the  fingers,  and  it  appears  to  stick  together 
slightly.  Place  some  in  a  bottle  of  water,  cork  it  tight, 
and  shake  the  bottle.  The  gray  powder  floats  in  the 
water  in  clouds,  till  the  water  appears  completely  filled 
with  it.  Let  the  bottle  stand,  and  it  will  be  many 
hours  before  it  settles  and  the  water  becomes  clear. 
Wet  some  of  the  dry  clay,  and  it  forms  a  sticky,  pasty 
mass,  that  has  a  soft,  greasy  feeling  in  the  fingers. 
Spread  some  of  the  soft,  paste-like  mass  over  a  sieve, 
and  pour  water  upon  it,  and  the  water  will  hardly  pass 
through  the  sieve  at  all.  Spread  some  of  the  wet  clay 
over  a  rough  board,  and  pour  water  over  it,  and  the 
clay  will  cling  to  the  board  for  a  long  time  before  it  is 
swept  away.  Place  a  lump  of  the  wet  clay  in  the  sun, 
and  it  will  be  many  hours  before  it  dries.  Spread 
some  of  the  wet  clay  on  a  dish,  and  place  it  in  the 
sun,  and  when  it  slowly  dries  it  will  be  found  full  of 


KINDS  OF  SOILS.  55 

cracks.  Place  a  lump  of  wet  clay  in  the  oven,  and  it 
will  dry  quite  hard  like  stone.  Put  it  directly  in  the 
fire,  and  it  will  turn  to  a  red,  brick-like  lump. 

Place  some  of  the  wet  clay  in  a  saucer  or  flower-pot, 
and  scatter  fine  seeds  upon  it,  as  in  our  other  experi- 
ment. The  seeds  may  sprout,  and  try  to  grow ;  but 
they  will  probably  soon  perish,  as  their  tender  roots 
are  unable  to  push  their  way  into  the  sticky  clay. 

After  all  these  experiments  have  been  performed 
with  the  clay  and  sand,  another  interesting  experiment 
can  be  made  by  drying  both  the  sand  and  clay,  and 
then  mixing  them  together  in  equal  parts.  When  well 
mixed,  place  in  a  flower-pot,  and  scatter  seeds  upon 
the  mixture.  Water  well,  and  place  in  a  sunny  win- 
dow ;  and  the  plants  will  sprout,  and  grow  longer  and 
better  than  in  either  the  clear  sand  or  pure  clay. 

These  experiments  with  the  lump  of  clay  show  us 
that  if  a  soil  consists  wholly  of  clay,  it  must  be  a  poor 
place  for  plants.  In  every  rain  the  water,  instead  of 
sinking  in  the  soil  to  supply  the  plants,  would  run  away 
over  the  surface  and  be  wasted.  After  the  shower 
had  passed,  the  soil  would  remain  wet  for  a  long  time. 
The  sun  would  dry  the  soil  very  slowly,  and  when  dry 
the  soil  would  split  and  crack,  and  tear  the  tender 
roots  of  plants  growing  in  it.  The  sticky,  paste-like 
soil  would  cling  to  our  spades  and  ploughs,  and  we 
should  find  it  hard,  slow  work  to  cultivate  the  ground. 
It  would  be  a  wet  soil,  and,  as  a  result,  a  cold  soil. 
This  was  proved  in  every  experiment  with  the  wet 
clay,  for  it  felt  at  all  times  cold  in  the  hands.  A  clear 


56  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

clay  soil  would  appear,  from  all  these  experiments,  a 
poor  soil  for  any  plants.  We  must  not,  however,  be 
led  astray  by  our  own  experiments.  It  is  not  easy  to 
find  a  soil  composed  wholly  of  clay.  It  is  usually 
mixed  with  other  things,  and  then  forms  a  valuable 
part  of  any  soil.  Sand  alone  would  be  a  poor  soil. 
Clay  alone  would  be  even  poorer  still.  Mixed  together, 
and  mixed  with  other  things,  they  make  a  part  of  the 
best  soils. 

XII.  SAND  SOILS  AND  CLAY  SOILS.  —  The 
fact  that  clay  and  sand  are  found  in  nearly  all  soils 
has  made  it  easy  to  classify  soils  into  six  classes  or 
groups.  These  are  as  follows  :  — 

1.  A  Light  Sand.  —  This  is  a  soil  containing  ninety 
per  cent  of  sand.     If  it  had  more  sand,  and  less  of 
clay  or  other  matter,  particularly  organic   matter,  it 
would  hardly  produce  any  useful  plants,  and  could  not 
fairly  be  called  a  soil. 

2.  A  Pure  Clay.  —  This  would  be  a  soil  in  which' 
no  sand  could  be  found.     A  pure  clay  soil  would  be 
wet  and  cold,  and  it  would  not  be  a  good  soil  for  our 
common  plants.      Such  soils  are  rare ;   and  what  is 
commonly  called  a  pure  clay  soil  is  one  containing  a 
great  excess  of  clay,  and  only  a  little  sand  and  organic 
matter. 

3.  A  Loam.  —  This  is  one  of  the  best  of  all  soils. 
Such  a  soil  may  contain  both  sand  and  clay,  as  well 
as  organic  matter.    There  may  be  from  twenty  to  sixty 
per  cent  of  sand,  or  from  forty  to  sixty  per  cent  of 
clay  and  organic  matter.     A  mixture  of  pure  sand  and 


KINDS  OF  SOILS.  57 

pure  clay  would  not,  however,  make  a  loam.     There 
must,  in  all  good  soils,  be  some  organic  matter. 

4.  A  Sandy  Loam. — This  is  a  mixture  of  sand  and 
clay,  but  with  more  sand  than  clay. 

5.  A  Clay  Loam. — This   is   a   mixture   in  which 
there  is  more  clay  than  sand. 

6.  A  Strong  Clay.  —  This  is  a  clay  soil  containing 
from  five  to  twenty  per  cent   of  sand   and   organic 
matter. 

The  strong  clay  and  the  loamy  soils,  with  more  or  less 
of  sand  or  clay,  are  all  good  soils,  and  each  will  make 
a  good  home  for  our  useful  plants.  Some  are  better 
for  certain  plants  than  others,  yet  nearly  every  plant 
will  thrive  in  both.  The  loamy  soils  are  regarded  as 
the  best,  and  a  sandy  loam  is  generally  regarded  as  the 
best  of  all. 

It  is  plain,  we  must  next  have  some  guide  to  enable 
us  to  decide  whether  any  particular  field  or  garden 
has  a  soil  belonging  to  either  one  of  these' classes. 
Our  only  guides  must  be  observation  and  experi- 
ment. 

First,  of  the  surface  indications.  What  is  the  color  ? 
Sand  is  usually  gray,  or  of  some  light  shade  of  yellow 
or  red.  Clay  is  often  of  many  colors,  blue,  black,  red, 
and  yellow ;  and  is  commonly  in  dark  shades  of  these 
colors.  There  are,  however,  clays  to  be  found  that 
are  gray  and  even  white.  This  makes  the  color  a 
rather  unsafe  guide  in  deciding  upon  the  character  of 
any  soil.  We  can  therefore  only  use  the  color  as  a 
help  in  making  other  observations. 


58  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

The  position  of  the  soil  is  a  good  indication ;  low 
lands,  intervales,  and  meadows  being  more  likely  to 
contain  clay  than  sand.  Higher  land,  the  tops  of  hills, 
and  mountain-sides  would  be  likely  to  have  more  sand 
than  clay.  This,  like  the  color,  is  only  a  partial  test 
or  indication,  and  must  not  be  taken  alone  as  a  guide. 

The  best  surface  indication  of  any  soil  is  its  ap- 
pearance after  a  rain.  If  the  water  sinks  into  the 
ground  quickly,  and  the  soil  becomes  dry  soon  after 
the  rain  has  ceased,  it  probably  contains  more  sand 
than  clay.  If  after  a  rain  the  soil  remains  wet  for 
some  time,  or  in  drying  cracks  or  forms  hard  lumps, 
it  contains  more  clay  than  sand.  If  the  soil  when  wet 
sticks  to  the  spade,  plough,  or  other  tool  we  are  using 
to  stir  the  soil,  it  is  a  strong  clay  soil,  or  clay  loam. 
Another  indication  is  the  character  of  the  lumps  and 
clods  of  soil  on  the  surface  after  it  has  been  ploughed. 
If  they  keep  their  shape,  and  do  not  crumble  and 
break  up  into  loose  earth,  there  is  more  clay  than 
sand.  If  the  plough  turns  the  soil  over  freely  in  a 
loose  mass,  it  is  a  sand  soil  or  sandy  loam. 

To  be  more  accurate  in  our  investigations,  we  must 
try  a  few  experiments.  Take,  as  before,  about  a  peck 
of  the  surface  soil  from  the  field  to  be  examined  ;  mix 
it  well,  measure  off  a  quarter-part  of  it,  mix  it,  and 
place  it  in  a  paper  bag  for  safe  keeping.  Take  small 
samples  of  this,  say  one  or  two  ounces,  and  repeat 
with  the  samples  every  one  of  our  former  experiments. 
Refer  to  the  notes  made  before,  and  compare  them 
with  the  notes  made  now,  and  see  how  near  this  soil 


KINDS  OF  SOILS.  59 

compares  with  the  results  we  obtained  with  pure  sand 
and  with  pure  clay.  For  instance,  wet  some  of  the 
soil,  and  roll  it  up  into  a  lump,  and  roast  it  in  the  fire, 
directly  on  the  coals.  Does  it  turn  hard  like  a  stone, 
or  break  up  into  black  ashes  ?  Put  some  in  a  bottle 
of  water,  and  shake  it,  and  see  if  it  settles  quickly,  or 
whether  the  water  remains  muddy  a  long  time  after 
the  bottle  is  at  rest.  Notice,  when  the  sediment  has 
settled,  if  there  is  more  than  one  layer  of  sand  or  mud 
at  the  bottom  of  the  water.  Try  every  experiment 
carefully,  and  note  the  results.  Afterwards  try  a  sam- 
ple of  the  subsoil  from  the  same  place.  Begin  each 
series  of  experiments  by  burning  some  of  the  soil  over 
the  fire,  to  find  out  the  proportion  of  organic  matter, 
and  then  use  the  ashes  to  repeat  the  experiments  with 
the  bottle  of  water. 

Besides  these  classes  of  soils,  —  the  sandy  soils  and 
clay  soils,  loams,  sandy  loams  and  clay  loams, — 
there  are  other  classes  into  which  soils  are  sometimes 
divided.  These  other  classes  have  reference  to  the 
amount  of  organic  matter  in  the  soil.  A  soil  contain- 
ing a  large  proportion  of  peat  or  decayed  vegetable- 
matter  left  under  water,  as  in  bogs  and  marshes,  is 
called  a  peaty  soil.  It  is  easily  recognized  by  its  black 
and  dark-brown  color  and  by  burning.  A  dry  peaty 
soil  placed  on  a  red-hot  shovel  gives  off  much  smoke, 
and  burns  slowly  away,  leaving  a  small  proportion  of 
ashes  behind.  The  dark,  soft  soil  found  under  trees 
in  old  woods,  or  on  the  surface  of  old  kitchen-gardens, 
is  likewise  largely  composed  of  organic  matter,  and  is 


60  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

called  a  vegetable  mould,  or  leaf  mould.  Its  color  is 
a  good  test,  and  burning  another  test.  There  are  also 
smaller  classes  of  soils ;  as,  a  lime  soil,  meaning  one 
composed  largely  of  weathered  limestone.  The  red 
soils  of  New  Jersey,  made  from  weathered  sandstones, 
are  sometimes  called  iron  soils,  because  containing 
great  quantities  of  iron-rust  that  gives  the  sand  its  red 
color. 

Farmers  also  say  of  soils,  that  they  are  light,  warm, 
dry,  heavy,  or  cold.  These  terms  refer  only  to  the 
character  of  the  soil ;  as,  a  light  or  dry  or  warm  soil 
means  a  sandy  soil  or  sandy  loam.  A  heavy  or  cold 
soil  means  a  clay  soil  or  clay  loam.  The  sandy  soils 
and  sandy  loams  are  also  called  leachy  soils,  because 
water  leaches  or  soaks  through  them  readily.  Soils  are 
also  classified  according  to  the  character  of  the  sand 
they  contain  :  as,  a  gravelly  soil,  or  one  in  which  the 
sand  is  mixed  with  small  stones  or  gravel ;  a  coarse 
sandy  soil,  meaning  a  soil  containing  more  or  less 
coarse  sand  ;  and  a  fine  sandy  soil,  meaning  one  hav- 
ing sand  that  is  very  fine  or  more  like  silt  and  clay. 
Soils  are  also  spoken  of  as  being  lean  and  hungry,  or 
rich  and  generous.  What  these  very  odd  terms  may 
mean,  we  must  learn  by  further  observation  and  study. 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SOILS.  6 1 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SOILS. 

xm.  THE  ELEMENTS. — We  have  observed  that 
the  soils  are  composed  of  organic  and  inorganic  ma- 
terials. Our  experiments  have  shown  us  that  the 
larger  part  of  every  farm  or  garden  soil  fit  for  useful 
plants  is  composed  of  rocks  in  the  form  of  sands  and 
clays.  Naturally  we  might  wonder  if  the  different 
rocks  do  not  make  different  soils.  Is  not  the  soil 
made  from  the  granite  hills  of  Eastern  Massachusetts 
very  different  from  the  soil  formed  from  red  sandstone 
in  New  Jersey,  or  the  yellow  drifting  mud  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi? This  is  quite  true.  These  soils  are  different, 
but  the  differences  are  not  so  great  as  between  a  soil 
with  much  sand  and  one  with  much  clay.  Besides 
this,  we  have  observed  that  the  rocks  have  been  weath- 
ered and  made  into  sandstone  and  shales,  and  these 
again  into  sand  and  clay,  so  many  times,  that  soils  as 
we  find  them  to-day  contain  every  kind  of  rock.  The 
changes  in  the  surface  of  the  earth  have  been  so  great ; 
the  upheavals  of  mountains,  the  action  of  floods  and 
ice,  earthquakes,  and  the  slow  denudation  of  hills,  have 
been  continued  so  long,  —  that  the  stony  remains  of 
old  rocks  are  mixed  together  in  hopeless  confusion; 


62  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

and  it  would  be  difficult  to  decide  where  the  sand  or 
clay  ever  came  from,  or  from  what  rocks  it  was  origin- 
ally formed.  We  must  go  to  work  in  quite  a  differ- 
ent way,  and  look  at  soils  from  still  another  side. 

When  we  begin  to  observe  things  about  us,  we  see 
an  endless  variety  of  objects  in  nature.  The  variety 
of  artificial  things  made  from  these  natural  objects  is 
equally  bewildering.  We  have  already  seen  that 
every  thing  in  the  world  is  either  organic  or  inorganic ; 
and  we  know  that  there  are  many  different  classifica- 
tions of  things,  as  plants,  animals,  wooden  things,  and 
cloth,  paper,  or  metal  things.  There  is  still  another 
classification,  and  that  is  the  classification  by  elements. 
An  element  is  a  single  thing  that  stands  alone,  and  is 
not  made  of  any  two  or  more  things.  Glass  is  not  an 
element,  because  it  is  composed  of  several  things. 
Pure  iron  is  an  element ;  that  is,  we  are  not  able  to 
divide  it  into  two  different  things.  Sulphur  is  an 
element :  it  is  one  thing  only.  Water  is  not  an  ele- 
ment, because  it  is  composed  of  two  elements.  Salt 
is  not  an  element,  neither  is  the  air  we  breathe.  Many 
thousands  of  experiments  have  been  made  with  all 
the  myriad  things  in  the  world ;  and  it  is  now  known 
that  there  are  only  about  sixty-five  separate  single 
things  in  the  world,  and  these  things  are  called 
elements. 

The  soil  and  subsoil  of  our  fields  and  gardens  are 
composed  of  a  great  number  of  different  things. 
Chemists  have  examined  these  things,  and  tell  us  that 
among  them  all  they  can  find  only  fourteen  of  the 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SOILS.  63 

sixty-five  elements.  Occasionally  three  more  are 
found,  but  the  quantities  to  be  met  with  are  very 
small.  We  shall  not  be  able  to  find  more  than  one  or 
two  of  these  elements  anywhere  in  a  pure  state,  unless 
we  visit  the  chemist's  laboratory  where  they  may  be 
kept  in  small  quantities  for  various  uses  in  the  arts. 
We  shall  not  be  able  to  find  these  fourteen  elements 
in  a  pure  state  in  the  soil.  Some  of  them  we  cannot 
see,  touch,  taste,  or  smell.  Some  of  them  are  very 
common,  others  are  comparatively  rare.  If  we  wish 
to  know  about  the  soil  and  its  materials,  we  must  here 
be  introduced  to  these  fourteen  elements,  in  order  to 
understand  how  they  behave,  and  how  they  are  related 
to  each  other. 

i.  Oxygen.  —  This  is  a  gas  that  we  can  neither  see, 
taste,  nor  smell.  It  is  the  most  abundant  element  in 
the  world.  It  forms  one-half  of  all  the  rocks  and 
soils,  eight-ninths  of  all  the  water,  and  one-fifth  of  the 
atmosphere.  It  is  sometimes  sold  in  iron  tanks,  as  a 
gas,  for  making  the  lime-light.  In  soils  it  combines 
with  many  elements  to  make  compounds  that  appear 
to  be  very  different.  It  combines  with  iron  to  make 
oxide  of  iron,  that  gives  the  red  color  to  so  many 
soils.  It  combines  with  another  element  to  make 
white  sand,  that  forms  the  larger  part  of  all  sandy 
soils.  It  is  a  greedy  element,  and  is  ready  to  unite 
with  any  element  that  comes  near  it.  So  greedy  is  it, 
that  heat  and  light  appear  when  it  unites  with  some 
other  elements,  and  we  call  this  eager  combination 
flame  or  fire.  Animals  cannot  live  without  oxygen, 


64  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

and  plants  must  have  it  in  abundance,  or  they  cannot 
exist. 

The  chemist  tells  these  few  facts,  and  we  now  dis- 
cover the  meaning  and  value  of  many  of  the  observa- 
tions we  have  already  made.  If  plants  must  have 
oxygen,  we  see  the  value  of  the  rain  and  the  atmos- 
phere ;  for  these  are  composed  in  large  part  of  oxygen. 
If  oxygen  is  greedy  to  combine  with  other  elements 
to  form  new  compounds,  and  these  compounds,  as  we 
shall  learn  presently,  are  useful  to  all  plants,  we  begin 
to  see  the  value  of  a  light  sandy  soil  that  permits  air 
and  water  to  pass  through  it  and  reach  these  elements. 
We  also  begin  to  see  why  we  must  open  the  top  of 
the  window  or  top  of  our  greenhouse  where  plants  are 
growing,  that  the  fresh  air  may  reach  them,  and  supply 
them  with  oxygen. 

2.  Hydrogen. — This  is  another  gas  without  taste 
or  smell.  It  will  combine  with  oxygen,  and  burns 
furiously  with  a  pale  blue  flame  and  much  heat.  When 
pure  it  is  used  in  balloons,  and  in  tanks  it  is  often  sold 
for  use  in  lime-lights.  It  forms  a  part  of  street-gas, 
as  the  blue  flame  of  a  gas-stove  plainly  shows.  It 
unites  with  other  elements  to  form  some  of  the  most 
important  materials  in  all  soils  and  in  all  plants. 
It  unites  with  oxygen  to  form  water,  and  in  this 
shape  spreads  through  the  soil,  dissolving  other  ele- 
ments and  compounds  of  elements,  and  making 
them  fit  for  plant-food.  It  also  combines  with  other 
compounds,  to  make  still  other  compounds  useful  to 
plants. 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SOILS.  65 

3.  Nitrogen.  —  This  is  another  gas  that  forms  a  part 
of  all  plants  and   animals.     It   is   colorless,  tasteless, 
and  without  smell.     It  is  not  a  poison  alone,  and  yet 
animals  will  instantly  die  in  it.     No  fire  can  burn  in 
it;  neither  will  it   burn,  like  hydrogen,  when   mixed 
with  oxygen.     In  the  soil  it  appears  as  valuable  com- 
pounds of  nitrogen  and  other  elements  that  form  the 
principal  foods  of  plants.     It  forms  the  larger  part  of 
the  atmosphere ;  and  if  we  wish  our  plants  to  be  well 
fed,  and  to  grow  large  and  luxuriant,  we  must  have 
nitrogen  in  the  soil.     To  do  this  we  must  freely  admit 
the  air  to  the  soil,  that,  by  enabling  the  nitrogen  to 
mingle  with   decaying  vegetable-matter,  it  may  make 
new  compounds  on  which  plants  may  feed. 

4.  Carbon.  —  This  element  forms  a  part  of  every 
plant.     If  we  burn  a  plant,  we  shall  find  carbon  in  the 
ashes  left  behind.     It  is  very  common.     Coke,  char- 
coal, coal,  black-lead,  lampblack,  and  sugar  are  largely 
composed  of  carbon.    The  diamond  is  pure  crystallized 
carbon.     When  carbon  burns,  it  unites  with  oxygen  to 
form  a  heavy,  suffocating  gas,  in  which  no  animal  can 
live.    At  the  same  time,  it  is  of  the  greatest  value  in  all 
soils,  and  forms  a  food  for  all  plants. 

5.  Silicon.  —  This  element,  combined  with  others, 
forms  common  sand,  and  makes  a  quarter-part  of  all 
the  solid  crust  of  our  world.     As  sand  it  is  of  the 
utmost  value  in  making  the  soil  a  fit  home  for  plants. 

6.  Sulphur.  —  This  element  we  often  meet  in  sul- 
phur matches.     It  combines  with  other  elements  to 
make  some  of  the  most  important  plant- foods  in  our 


66  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

soils.     It  is  yellow  in  color,  and  burns  with  a  blue 
flame  and  suffocating  smell. 

7.  Phosphorus.  —  This  is  a  pale-yellow  matter,  that 
burns  so  easily  that  it  has  to  be  kept  under  water.     It 
unites  with  other  elements  to  form  valuable  plant-foods. 
Without  these  compounds  in  the  soil,  it  is  difficult  to 
make  any  plants  grow.     It  is  essential  in  every  soil, 
and  it  forms  a  part  of  every  plant. 

8.  Chlorine.  —  This  element  is  a  gas  of  yellow-green 
color,  and  is  quite  poisonous.     Combined  with  sodium 
it  forms  chloride  of  sodium,  or  common  salt.     Com- 
bined with  other  elements  it  is  found  in  all  plants  and 
soils. 

These  elements  are  called  the  non-metallic  elements. 
The  remainder  of  the  fourteen  elements  found  in  soils 
are  metals.  They  are  as  follows  :  potassium,  sodium, 
calcium,  magnesium,  aluminium,  and  iron.  The  po- 
tassium and  sodium  form,  with  other  elements,  impor- 
tant parts  of  all  soils.  Calcium,  with  oxygen,  forms 
lime  ;  and  in  the  rocks  it  forms  a  part  of  marble,  lime- 
stone, and  chalk ;  and  as  these  rocks  are  weathered, 
it  appears  in  many  soils.  In  one  form  this  element 
makes  an  important  compound  called  gypsum,  which 
forms  an  important  part  of  our  soils.  Magnesium  is 
found  in  certain  limestones ;  and  aluminium  is  in  all 
clay,  and  thus  forms  a  large  part  of  many  of  our  soils. 
Iron  we  all  know.  It  is  the  most  common  of  the 
metals,  and  in  various  compounds  is  abundant  every- 
where in  the  earth.  In  our  soils  it  is  usually  combined 
with  oxygen,  as  iron-rust,  and  gives  the  red  and  brown 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SOILS.  6/ 

color  to  the  fields  and  roads.  Besides  these  fourteen 
elements,  there  are  at  times  to  be  met  in  soils  small 
quantities  of  manganese,  iodine,  and  fluorine. 

xrv.  SOIL- ANALYSIS.  —  While  these  fourteen  or 
seventeen  elements  may  be  found  in  nearly  all  soils, 
we  must  not  think  they  can  be  found  in  a  pure  state. 
All  are  mingled  together  in  various  compounds.  The 
chemist  can  take  a  quantity  of  soil  from  a  field,  and 
tell  us  just  which  of  these  compounds  are  in  that  little 
mass  of  loam  or  earth.  Such  an  examination  he  calls 
an  analysis.  The  following  is  an  analysis  of  a  good 
soil,  as  reported  by  Professor  Lupton  of  Nashville, 
Tenn. :  — 

Percentage. 

Potassium  oxide 0.2 

Sodium  oxide 0.4 

Calcium  oxide,  or  lime 5.9 

Magnesium  oxide,  or  magnesia 0.8^ 

Iron  oxide 6.1 

Aluminium  oxide,  or  aluminia 5.7 

Manganese  oxide o.i 

Silicon  oxide,  or  silica 64.8 

Sulphuric  acid,  or  sulphur  tri-oxide   ....  0.2 

Phosphoric  acid,  or  phosphorus  pentoxide      .  0.4^ 

Carbonic  acid,  or  carbon  di-oxide 4.0 

Chlorine 0.2 

Organic  matter 9.7 

Loss 1.4 

100.0 

This  analysis  is  very  interesting  as  showing  the  com- 
binations of  the  elements.  Observe  how  very  largely 
oxygen  appears  mixed  with  the  other  elements.  The 


68  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

soil  is  a  sandy  loam,  because  there  are  sixty-four  parts 
of  the  silicon  oxide,  forming  sand.  The  clay,  or  alu- 
minium oxide,  forms  only  five  parts  in  one  hundred ; 
and  the  calcium  oxide,  another  five  parts.  The  or- 
ganic matter  was  probably  the  remains  of  dead  plants 
left  in  the  soil  from  old  crops.  Twelve  of  the  fourteen 
elements  were  in  the  soil,  and  one  of  the  rare  elements 
—  the  manganese  —  was  represented  by  a  small  per- 
centage. 

The  chemists  have  also  analyzed  plants ;  and  it  is 
found,  that,  of  the  fourteen  elements  in  soils,  ten  are 
to  be  found  in  plants.  These  are  carbon,  hydrogen, 
oxygen,  nitrogen,  sulphur,  phosphorus,  potassium,  cal- 
cium, magnesium,  and  iron.  These  the  plant  obtains 
either  from  the  soil  or  from  the  air.  It  does  not  find 
any  element,  in  either  the  air  or  soil,  in  a  pure  state ; 
neither  does  the  plant  show  them  in  a  pure  state  in 
itself.  Naturally  we  might  wonder  if  it  is  worth  while 
to  remember  these  fourteen  elements.  If  they  cannot 
be  found  in  a  pure  state,  why  try  to  remember  them? 
Plants  contain  phosphorus.  They  obtain  it  from  the 
phosphorus  in  the  soil.  Suppose,  now,  we  wish  to 
plant  a  crop  in  a  certain  field.  The  plants  need  phos- 
phorus. Will  they  find  it  ready  for  use  in  the  soil? 
Perhaps  they  will,  and  perhaps  they  will  not.  Very 
likely  the  plants  that  grew  in  this  field  last  year,  or  the 
year  before,  have  taken  up  all  the  phosphorus  that  is 
fit  to  use.  There  may  be  plenty  there,  but  not  in 
shape  for  food.  Our  new  plants,  not  finding  it  ready, 
refuse  to  grow,  and  the  crop  will  be  a  failure.  If  we 


THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SOILS.  69 

think  there  is  not  enough  phosphorus  in  the  soil,  we 
must  put  some  in  it.  Where  shall  we  get  it  ?  We  can 
buy  pure  phosphorus  by  paying  a  very  high  price  for 
it,  but  it  would  all  burn  away  long  before  the  plants 
could  find  it.  We  look  about  to  see  if  there  is  any 
thing  that  contains  phosphorus.  The  chemist  tells  us 
this  element  is  in  bones.  Bones  can  be  used ;  and 
we  get  a  quantity,  grind  them  up  fine  so  that  the  plants 
can  find  them  easily,  and  sow  the  white  dust  over  the 
field.  The  plants  find  the  phosphorus  in  the  bone- 
dust,  and  attack  it  greedily,  and  produce  a  bountiful 
harvest.  Thus,  by  knowing  the  elements,  we  are  able 
to  find  them  in  various  things,  and  can  place  these 
things  in  the  soil,  and  thus  supply  the  plants  with  the 
very  elements  they  need.  Thus  we  see  it  is  well  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  our  friends  the  elements, 
though  we  may  never  be  able  to  find  them  alone  or  in 
a  pure  state. 

We  might  ask  now  why  we  may  not  continue  our 
observations  and  experiments,  and  find  out  by  analysis 
just  what  elements  are  in  any  particular  soil.  Our 
experiments  have  shown  us  that  soils  vary  greatly  in 
the  amount  of  organic  and  inorganic  matter,  sand,  or 
clay  they  may  contain.  May  there  not  be  an  equal 
variety  in  the  amount  of  the  different  elements  in 
different  soils?  There  is  the  greatest  variety;  and 
analysis  will  tell  us  what  elements  are  abundant,  and 
what  elements  are  scarce,  in  any  particular  sample  of 
soil.  Observe,  that  in  our  experiments  we  have  been 
using  only  small  samples  of  soils.  Even  a  whole  peck 


70  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL, 

of  soil  is  a  very  small  part  of  an  acre.  As  far  as  the 
sand  and  clay  and  the  organic  parts  are  concerned, 
our  examination  of  a  few  ounces  of  soil  may  be  fair, 
because  these  things  form  the  whole  of  the  soil. 
When  we  come  to  the  elements,  it  is  quite  different ; 
and  instead  of  three  parts  we  have  seventeen  parts,  and 
the  proportions  of  each  are  very  small.  There  may 
not  be  in  a  whole  acre  of  soil,  weighing  hundreds  of 
tons,  more  than  fifty  pounds  of  one  of  the  elements ; 
and  thus  the  proportion  in  one  pound  would  be  so 
small,  we  might  not  be  able  to  find  it.  Moreover,  the 
work  of  analyzing  soils  is  troublesome  and  expensive, 
and  can  only  be  done  by  a  chemist.  Even  the  chem- 
ist tells  us  the  work  is  unsatisfactory,  because  of  the 
strange  way  things  are  mixed  together  in  every  soil. 
In  one  place  there  may  be  a  good  deal  of  phosphorus, 
and  in  places  not  twelve  inches  away  on  either  side 
not  a  trace  of  it  to  be  found.  Plainly,  if  he  happened 
to  dig  in  the  wrong  place,  he  would  tell  us  quite  a 
wrong  story  about  the  field.  So,  while  it  seems  a  capi- 
tal plan  to  have  a  field  examined  by  a  chemist,  it  is 
really  very  misleading.  The  chemist  will  tell  us  the 
truth  about  a  little  handful  of  soil ;  but  the  field  con- 
tains a  million  handfuls,  and  not  one  may  be  exactly 
like  another.  Our  best  plan  is  to  try  experiments,  and, 
if  we  fear  any  single  element  is  missing  from  a  soil,  to 
add  them  all,  and  thus  be  on  the  safe  side. 

It  is  all  much  like  the  man  who  declared  he  must 
have  soup,  fish,  meat,  potatoes,  beans,  lettuce,  pease, 
bread,  salt,  pepper,  vinegar,  sugar,  oil,  and  coffee  for 


THE   ELEMENTS  OF  SOILS.  71 

dinner  every  day.  If  a  single  thing  was  left  out,  he 
declared  he  would  certainly  starve,  and  would  not 
touch  his  dinner.  For  some  reason  he  would  never 
tell  which  particular  dish  he  preferred ;  so  the  house- 
keeper, like  a  wise  woman,  said  nothing,  but  took 
pains  every  day  to  see  that  all  the  fourteen  things  were 
on  the  table.  It  is  the  same  with  plants.  They  are 
distressed,  and  sometimes  die,  if  one  of  the  elements 
is  missing  from  the  soil.  They  want  something,  and, 
being  disappointed  in  not  finding  it,  refuse  to  grow, 
and  perhaps  die,  which  is  a  very  unsatisfactory  business 
for  all  concerned.  Plainly,  our  only  plan  is  to  follow 
the  sensible  housekeeper,  and  see  that  the  dinner-table 
spread  for  our  plants  contains  at  all  times  every  thing 
they  want.  In  actual  practice,  we  shall  not  be  obliged 
to  put  in  the  soil  every  one  of  these  elements.  Many 
will  take  care  of  themselves,  the  air  and  the  rain  and 
snow  will  provide  others  in  abundance ;  and  we  shall 
really  be  obliged  to  provide  only  three  or  four.  This 
makes  the  whole  matter  far  more  simple  and  easy  than 
we  might  at  first  imagine  ;  and  we  can  now  go  on, 
feeling  sure  that  nothing  is  as  difficult  as  it  appears, 
if  we  have  the  courage  to  try  experiments,  and  the 
patience  to  learn.  We  will  next  see  what  we  can  do 
to  improve  those  soils  whose  history  and  nature  we 
have  learned.  We  must  see  what  can  be  done  to 
make  our  soils  give  us  more  fruits,  more  flowers,  more 
food,  and  more  wealth. 


72  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IMPROVEMENT   OF   SOILS. 

xv.  TAMING  THE  LAND. — When  the  first  set- 
tlers landed  in  the  old  colonies  along  the  Atlantic 
coast,  they  found  a  wild,  virgin  soil,  covered  every- 
where with  forests.  They  cut  down  the  trees,  and, 
ploughing  up  the  dark  vegetable  mould  between  the 
stumps,  planted  their  first  crops  of  wheat,  corn,  oats, 
and  vegetables.  The  Indians  had  planted  corn  in  a 
few  places  here  and  there,  in  openings  in  the  forest ; 
but  their  planting  was  a  poor,  rude  work,  that  made 
very  little  impression  on  the  soil.  For  the  settlers  in 
Massachusetts  Bay,  along  the  Connecticut  Valley, 
about  Providence,  around  the  Dutch  settlement  of 
New  Amsterdam,  and  in  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia, 
the  land  was  practically  a  fresh,  native  soil,  in  which 
the  useful  plants  were  strangers.  This  new  soil  proved 
to  be  very  fertile.  It  contained  all  the  elements  the 
plants  needed,  in  abundance,  and  they  flourished 
amazingly.  It  was  indeed  a  new  world,  and  the  peo- 
ple discovered  that  wonderful  new  wealth  could  be 
obtained  everywhere  as  soon  as  the  primeval  forests 
were  cut  down.  The  people  went  to  work  with  great 
energy,  and  cleared  away  the  forests,  and  extended 
their  fields  and  crops  in  every  direction. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  73 

This  went  on  for  some  time,  and  the  crops  appeared 
to  be  as  abundant  as  ever.  Then,  after  a  number  of 
years,  the  people  began  to  find  that  the  crops  in  the 
older  fields,  that  had  first  been  cleared,  were  not  so 
abundant  as  formerly.  If  a  certain  field  near  the  first 
settlements  gave  a  hundred  bushels  of  wheat  when 
the  land  was  first  used,  it  would  now  give  only  seventy- 
five.  That  was  still  a  good  crop,  and  more  wheat  was 
planted  year  by  year.  But  the  crops  steadily  grew  less 
and  less,  till  finally  there  was  not  enough  wheat  pro- 
duced in  that  field  to  pay  for  the  seed  and  the  labor 
of  cultivating  it.  There  was  more  land  a  little  farther 
back  in  the  woods ;  and  the  settlers  left  the  old  fields, 
and  went  deeper  into  the  forest,  cut  down  the  trees, 
and  cleared  more  land.  Again  the  virgin  soil  returned 
bountiful  harvests,  and  the  farmers  won  more  wealth 
from  the  new  ground.  In  a  few  years  the  new  fields 
refused  to  give  these  great  harvests,  and  the  settler 
or  his  sons  pushed  on  again  farther  west.  This,  in 
time,  became  the  agricultural  history  of  our  country. 
The  land  was  abundant  and  cheap  ;  and  when  the  vir- 
gin soils  refused  to  give  large  crops,  the  farmers  moved 
on  and  on  towards  the  west,  in  the  search  of  fresh  new 
land.  Whoever  wanted  large  crops  took  new  land ; 
and,  as  there  was  plenty  of  it,  the  American  people 
grew  rich  at  a  wonderful  pace. 

Here  was  certainly  a  curious  matter.  Why  did  not 
the  old  soils  keep  on  producing  abundant  crops  ?  The 
plants  did  not  consume  the  soil,  and  have  nothing  but 
the  bare  rocks  behind.  The  soil  remained  apparently 


74  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

unchanged ;  and  yet  the  wheat,  corn,  rye,  and  other 
plants  dwindled  away  to  poor,  starved  things  produ- 
cing nothing.  If  it  is  true,  as  we  might  think  from  the 
behavior  of  our  farmers,  that  when  a  soil  refuses  to 
give  good  crops  we  must  find  more  virgin  soil  in 
another  place,  then  we  must  be  pretty  near  the  end  of 
the  world.  There  is  no  virgin  soil  in  Europe  or  Asia, 
and  we  have  not  much  left  in  this  country.  There 
may  be  some  in  Africa  or  Australia,  or  perhaps  in  South 
America.  Must  we  move  to  these  places  when  we 
come  to  the  end  of  all  our  new  land  ?  If  plants,  like 
the  man  with  the  fourteen  dishes,  are  disappointed  if 
one  be  gone  from  their  table,  what  are  we  to  do? 
We  look  about,  and  find  people  have  been  living  in 
Europe  for  many  hundreds  of  years ;  in  fact,  a  very 
long  time  before  this  great  piece  of  virgin  soil  we  call 
America  was  discovered.  Clearly,  they  did  not  starve, 
neither  did  they  follow  the  plan  of  our  foolish  farmers, 
and  go  off  to  find  new  virgin  soil,  every  time  a  field 
refused  to  give  good  crops.  This  plan  of  going  out 
West  for  new  land  was  all  very  well  while  this  country 
was  new :  it  was  cheaper,  and  there  was  plenty  of 
room.  Now  we  must  do  something  else,  for  we  are 
rapidly  coming  to  the  end  of  our  new  soils.  We  must 
look  at  the  European  farmer,  the  Frenchman,  the  Eng- 
lishman, and  German.  What  did  he  do  with  his  soils  ? 
He  repaired  them.  He  learned,  in  some  rude  way, 
that  something  was  wrong.  He  found  the  plants  did 
not  grow  in  certain  soils,  and  he  worked  over  the  soils 
till  he  made  them  as  good  as  new.  He  found  some 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  75 

of  the  elements  were  missing,  and  he  put  them  back 
in  the  soil ;  and  then  the  plants  grew  just  as  well  as 
ever.  They  found  the  fourteen  elements  in  reach,  and 
were  satisfied,  and  grew  big  and  fat  on  the  old,  old 
soils. 

Here  is  a  most  important  matter.  Soils  can  be 
improved,  and  can  be  made  to  bear  good  crops  year 
after  year,  apparently  without  end.  We  read  that 
seedtime  and  harvest  will  not  fail :  this  means,  that 
the  time  for  sowing  seed  and  the  time  for  gathering 
harvests  will  not  fail.  But  if  we  fail  to  do  our  part, 
the  harvests  will  fail  also  every  year.  There  is  another 
thing  we  must  notice.  A  good  soil  kept  in  repair  is 
better  than  a  gold-mine.  The  mine  gives  great  wealth 
for  a  short  time,  and  then  there  is  an  end.  The  miner 
gathers  all  the  ore,  and  the  mine  is  then  only  a  worth- 
less hole  in  the  ground.  The  fields  can,  with  care  and 
skill,  be  improved  from  year  to  year,  and  give  the  farm- 
er food  (which  is  wealth  just  as  much  as  gold)  for  his 
children  and  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren, 
and  all  their  children,  till  there  shall  be  neither  times 
nor  seasons,  seed-sowing  nor  harvests,  forever,  world 
without  end. 

As  there  is  still  some  virgin  soil  left  in  this  country, 
we  may  stop  just  a  moment  to  see  what  must  be  done 
to  it  to  make  it  ready  for  our  useful  plants.  Our  ob- 
servations have  already  shown  us  that  plants  will  not 
grow  in  the  shade.  If,  therefore,  there  are  trees  grow- 
ing in  the  soil,  they  must  be  removed.  There  are  two 
ways  in  which  this  has  been  done.  One  way  is  to  cut 


76  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

a  ring  round  the  tree,  through  the  bark,  and  let  it 
slowly  die.  This  would  let  the  light  in  between  the 
trees,  because  the  leaves  would  shrivel  and  fall  off; 
and  in  time  the  wind  would  blow  the  dead  tree  down. 
Another  and  a  better  way  is  to  cut  the  tree  down,  and 
drag  it  away.  The  limbs  and  bark  can  be  burned,  and 
the  logs  sold  to  the  lumberman.  That  leaves  only  the 
stumps  in  the  ground ;  and  these  can  be  pulled  up 
and  burned,  or  dragged  out  of  the  field.  This  hard, 
rough  work  is  called  "  clearing  the  land,"  and  has  been 
done  by  our  fathers  ever  since  they  landed  on  this 
continent.  In  many  of  our  States  and  Territories,  the 
work  is  still  going  on.  It  is  even  done  in  the  old 
States  like  New  York,  by  men  who  still  think  it  cheaper 
to  clear  off  the  trees,  and  find  the  wild  land,  and  thus 
slowly  tame  it,  than  to  buy  old  fields  that  were  cleared 
off  a  hundred  years  ago.  In  some  places  the  virgin 
soil  will  be  good,  and  the  work  will  pay ;  but  we  must 
remember  that  our  fathers  and  grandfathers  were  wise 
men  in  their  day,  and  they  found  out  all  the  best  land, 
and  cleared  it  up,  long  before  we  were  born.  Nearly 
all  the  land  that  is  now  being  cleared  in  the  older 
States  is  poor  land,  and  the  virgin  soils  to  be  found 
will  not  compare  with  the  virgin  soils  our  grandfathers 
found  way  back  before  the  Revolution. 

In  our  Western  States  and  Territories,  there  are 
virgin  soils  without  trees.  On  such  soils,  all  this  labor 
of  clearing  away  the  trees  is  saved,  and  we  have  noth- 
ing to  do  but  to  prepare  the  ground  at  once  for  our 
plants.  In  the  old  forests  there  were  very  few  small 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  fj 

plants  under  the  trees,  and  when  the  trees  were  re- 
moved the  ground  was  almost  bare.  On  the  open 
prairie-lands  there  is  a  thick  mat  or  sod  of  grass. 
This  we  know  consists  of  wild  plants,  weeds,  and 
grasses,  growing  so  close  together  that  the  roots  have 
become  twisted  together  to  form  a  mass  like  a  thick 
carpet,  and  called  a  sod.  If  the  settler  sows  his  wheat, 
oats, , or  corn  on  this  grass,  the  seeds  will  fall  down 
between  the  wild  plants,  and  be  lost ;  or,  if  it  succeeds 
in  growing,  will  be  starved  and  smothered  by  the  wild 
plants.  There  will  be  a  fierce  fight  to  see  which  shall 
live ;  but  the  wild  things  will  be  sure  to  win,  and  the 
wheat  and  other  good  plants  will  surely  perish.  The 
settler  knows  this,  and  gets  out  his  great  "  breaking- 
up "  plough,  and  with  a  strong  team  of  horses  cuts 
the  sod  into  strips,  and  turns  each  strip  completely 
upside  down,  one  slice  or  strip  resting  beside  the  next. 
This  is  the  first  step  in  the  improvement  of  the  soil. 
We  call  the  work  ploughing,  and  it  forms  a  part  of  the 
science  of  tillage.  Whether  it  is  wiser  to  clear  up 
forest- land  or  break  up  prairie-land,  in  preference  to 
buying  land  already  cleared  and  that  is  starved  and  all 
out  of  repair,  must  depend  on  a  great  many  circum- 
stances. No  doubt,  to  raise  large  crops  of  wheat,  it 
is  best  to  take  the  new  lands.  To  raise  vegetables, 
and  fine  fruits  and  flowers,  we  must  take  the  old  lands 
near  the  cities.  Which  we  should  do,  depends  entirely 
on  our  taste,  education,  and  capital.  Even  though 
we  may  never  use  old  soils,  or  break  up  virgin  soils,  it 
is  well  we  know  and  understand  these  things ;  for  they 


78  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

affect  us  all,  whether  we  live  in  town  or  country.  The 
success  or  failure  of  our  farmers  affects  the  price  of 
bread  on  all  our  tables,  and  we  cannot  say  we  do  not 
care  for  these  things.  Whatever  is  good  for  the  farmer 
to  know,  is  good  for  all  to  know.  Many  people  think 
we  have  too  much  land,  and  that  we  should  not  cut 
down  any  more  trees,  but  use  the  fields  already  cleared. 
This  is  a  most  important  and  interesting  question ; 
and  before  we  have  finished  our  observations  and 
studies  of  the  soil,  we  may  be  able  to  understand  it 
better  than  we  can  just  now. 

xvi.  TILLAGE.— The  settler  in  the  Far  West 
ploughs  up  the  wild  soil,  turning  it  neatly  over  in  long 
furrows.  Before,  it  was  long  grass  :  now  it  is  brown 
soft  earth.  What  will  happen  next  ?  Let  us  look  at 
the  matter,  for  the  observations  we  have  already  made 
will  in  various  ways  help  us  to  an  answer.  First,  we 
notice  that  before  the  plough  passed,  the  grass  and 
other  plants  hid  the  ground  from  sight.  Now  the  plants 
are  turned  completely  upside  down,  and  are  buried  out 
of  sight.  Secondly,  a  part  of  the  soil  was  below  and 
out  of  the  reach  of  the  air  and  sunlight :  it  is  now  on 
top,  and  fully  exposed  to  sun,  wind,  and  rain.  Lastly, 
in  place  of  a  thick  mat  of  tangled  roots  we  have  the 
loose  soil.  What  will  be  the  effect  of  all  this  ? 

Plants  are  living  things.  They  require  air  and 
light,  or  they  cannot  live.  These  plants  are  torn  up 
and  buried,  and  will  quickly  perish.  The  moment 
they  are  dead,  decay  begins.  This  means  that  they 
will  turn  back  to  their  original  elements.  The  com- 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  79 

pounds  of  which  they  are  composed  will  separate,  and 
form  new  combinations  with  the  elements  already  in 
the  soil,  the  air,  or  the  rain.  There  will  be  new  com- 
binations in  every  direction,  and  nothing  will  remain 
that  bears  any  resemblance  to  the  original  plants. 
Some  of  the  elements  of  the  plants  will  float  away  as 
invisible  gases  on  the  air,  or  sink  deep  into  the  soil 
with  the  water  that  falls  in  the  next  rain.  Not  a  thing 
will  utterly  perish,  not  an  atom  will  be  lost.  The 
greedy  soil  will  take  up  all  that  is  not  carried  away 
by  the  air  or  the  water,  and  will  hold  it  fast  till  other 
plants  seeking  for  food  find  it  and  use  it  once  more  as 
part  of  a  living  thing.  All  this  happens  whenever  any 
living  thing  dies.  If  it  is  left  on  the  ground,  the  larger 
part  floats  away  on  the  air  unseen.  Another  part  soaks 
away  into  the  soil  in  the  ground.  If  it  is  buried  under 
the  soil,  the  most  valuable  parts  unite  with  the  ele- 
ments in  the  soil,  and  make  new  combinations  ready 
for  future  plants ;  and  the  rest  escapes  in  the  air  and 
water.  Disagreeable,  do  you  think?  Not  at  all. 
This  is  nature's  sweet,  sure  way  of  restoring  every 
living  thing  to  its  native  elements  in  the  soil  and  air 
from  whence  it  sprang.  Thus  we  see  that  the  first 
step  in  improving  the  soil  is  to  return  to  it  the  wild 
plants  that  occupy  the  virgin  ground,  that  in  dying 
they  may  make  room  for  better  plants,  —  the  potato, 
the  yellow  corn,  and  sweet  grasses,  fit  food  for  men 
and  animals,  —  and  that  they  leave  their  remains  to 
become  food  for  the  plants  that  come  after  them.  We 
see  now  that  the  soil  is  not  merely  a  storehouse  of 


80  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

wealth  left  by  Nature  for  our  use,  but  that  it  can  be 
improved  by  the  wise  use  of  knowledge,  and  that  the 
study  of  these  things  is  well  worth  all  our  time  and 
labor.  It  is  more  like  a  bank  than  a  storehouse, 
because  we  can  add  to  it  as  well  as  take  away  from  it. 

Secondly,  we  observe  that  in  turning  over  the  sod 
with  a  plough,  a  part  of  the  soil  that  was  below  is  now 
on  top.  We  have  seen  that  the  soil  is  composed,  in 
large  part,  of  the  remains  of  old  rocks.  There  is  in 
every  soil  more  or  less  sand.  This  old  granulated 
rock  can  be  affected  by  the  frost,  the  sun,  the  rain, 
to-day,  precisely  as  in  the  old  past  when  it  was  broken 
from  some  ancient  cliffs.  The  work  we  saw  going  on 
at  Schunemunk  is  going  on  everywhere  in  the  soil. 
The  plough  turns  up  the  soil,  and  brings  the  particles 
of  rock  we  call  sand  to  the  surface,  and  it  is  again 
broken  up  finer  still.  The  elements  are  released  by 
the  frost  and  rain,  and  made  ready  to  enter  into  new 
combinations.  The  greedy  oxygen  attacks  it,  and 
forms  new  compounds  ready  to  be  used  by  new  plants. 
Thus  the  mere  turning-over  of  the  soil  is  a  benefit  by 
bringing  new  particles  of  rock  to  the  influence  of  the 
weather. 

Finally,  observe  how  loose  and  broken  the  plough 
has  left  the  soil.  In  this  soft  mould,  the  roots  of  the 
new  plants  can  push  their  way  in  eager  search  of 
the  new  food  just  formed  from  the  dead  plants,  or  set 
free  from  the  decaying  sands  and  clays. 

This  is  the  first  great  step  in  the  improvement  of  a 
soil,  and  it  is  given  the  general  name  of  tillage.  At 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  8 1 

first  it  may  seem  doubtful  if  there  is  any  immediate 
effect  on  a  sod-land  by  turning  the  sod  over  and  expos- 
ing a  part  of  the  soil  to  the  air.  We  can  prove  that 
there  is  an  improvement  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours, 
by  means  of  a  simple  experiment.  Find  a  plant  in  a 
greenhouse  or  the  window,  —  say  a  small  verbena,  or 
other  quick-growing  plant,  —  that  has  been  neglected 
for  some  time.  A  green  mould  has  grown  over  the 
top  of  the  soil  in  the  pot ;  and  with  a  small  stick  we 
dig  this  up,  stirring  and  breaking  up  the  soil  for  an 
inch  or  two  deep.  Keep  the  plant  in  the  same  place 
as  before,  and  give  it  no  more  light  or  warmth,  and 
it  will  show  in  a  single  day  a  decided  change.  It  will 
be  greener  and  brighter,  and  be  materially  improved 
in  appearance.  If  not  too  much  injured  by  neglect, 
it  will  begin  to  grow  rapidly  within  twenty-four  hours. 
Observe,  we  give  no  more  water  than  usual :  in  fact, 
the  plant  will  need  less  water.  We  give  it  no  more 
heat  or  sunshine ;  and  yet  it  looks  better,  and  soon 
begins  to  grow  afresh.  We  are  obliged  to  think  that 
the  breaking-up  of  the  mat  of  moss  on  the  top  of  the 
soil,  and  the  exposure  of  the  soil  to  the  air,  does  in 
some  way  improve  the  plant.  The  plant  itself  may  be 
untouched,  and  yet  it  plainly  shows  that  the  work  upon 
the  soil,  or"  the  tillage,  has  affected  its  life  and  health. 
One  effect  is  to  remove  the  crust  or  mat  of  moss  on 
top  of  the  soil,  and  to  expose  the  surface  to  the  air. 
Another  effect  is,  that,  the  soil  being  loosened,  the 
air  can  penetrate  the  soil  through  countless  little 
cracks  and  holes.  The  water  also  easily  finds  its  way 


82  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

through  the  loose  soil ;  and  both  air  and  water  bring 
elements  that  combine  with  elements  in  the  soil,  dis- 
solving some,  and  forming  others  into  new  combina- 
tions. Even  the  hard  sand  in  the  soil  is  affected  and 
disintegrated,  and  made  finer  and  softer.  Thus  by 
tillage  we  assist  the  air,  water,  heat,  and  cold,  to  con- 
tinue their  ancient  work  of  making  new  soil  out  of 
old  materials.  We  can  see  no  change  in  the  soil ;  but 
the  plant  is  aware  that  the  soil  has  been  improved  by 
tillage,  and  by  its  improved  health  and  vigor  tells  us 
what  has  happened.  This  work  of  stirring  up  the  soil 
in  flower-pots  is  one  of  the  surest  ways  of  keeping 
house-plants  in  good  health,  and  should  be  done  at 
least  twice  every  month. 

xvn.  AN  ANCIENT  TOOL.  —  The  oldest  tool  for 
improving  the  soil  was  probably  a  forked  limb  from  a 
tree.  With  this  rude  tool,  which  was  the  first  sugges- 
tion of  a  hoe,  the  ancient  cave-man  scratched  up  the 
soil  in  such  bare  spots  as  he  could  find  in  pre-historic 
woods,  and  made  a  place  for  his  poor,  small  seeds. 
No  man  can  tell  where  or  when  this  work  began.  It 
is  utterly  lost  and  forgotten.  Perhaps  the  limb  of  the 
tree  was  broken  or  cut  off  with  stone  hatchets,  and 
looked  like  a  in  Fig.  I. 

Then  some  more  ingenious  fellow  suggested  finding 
a  longer  limb,  and  making  the  shorter  arm  sharp. 
By  this  change  the  crooked  stick  could  be  dragged 
along  the  ground  by  the  long  handle,  while  the  sharp- 
ened branch  made  a  rough  furrow  in  the  soil.  (See  b 
in  Fig.  I.)  By  dragging  such  a  sharpened  stick  over 


Fig.  I. 


Fig.  II. 


Fig.  III. 


84  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

the  ground  many  times,  the  soil  might  be  readily 
broken  up,  and  made  loose  and  soft  for  a  few  inches 
deep.  When  and  where  this  change  began,  we  can 
never  know.  We  can  only  guess  that  this  must  be  the 
true  history,  because  we  find,  even  in  modern  times, 
wooden  ploughs  that  suggest  this  idea.  Fig.  II.  is  a 
sketch  of  a  Kooloo  plough  used  in  India  in  this 
century ;  and  it  is  very  like  a  forked  stick  sharpened 
at  the  end  of  one  branch,  and  fitted  with  a  third  piece 
that  serves  as  a  handle.  Pins  are  also  added  to  hold 
the  harness  of  the  horse  or  cow  used  to  drag  the 
plough.  Fig.  II.  also  shows  how  the  plough  was 
rudely  shaped  out  of  three  pieces  of  wood,  and  how 
it  was  fastened  together  with  a  wedge.  Old  Egyptian 
monuments  show  ploughs  used  in  that  country  before 
the  Christian  era,  that  were  very  much  like  this  Kooloo 
plough.  It  was  not  till  quite  modern  times,  that  the 
plough  was  any  thing  more  than  a  scratching-machine, 
that  merely  made  a  shallow  furrow  by  throwing  out 
the  soil  on  both  sides. 

In  Fig.  III.  we  have  a  modern  American  plough. 
Let  us  look  at  it  a  moment.  It  consists  of  several 
parts.  First  is  the  long  beam  (that  corresponds  to 
the  longer  branch  of  the  forked  limb  of  the  original 
plough),  the  steel  share,  the  mould-board,  and  handles. 
There  are  also  other  details,  —  as  the  coulter,  that  acts 
as  a  knife  to  cut  and  separate  that  part  of  the  soil 
that  is  to  be  turned  over,  from  the  part  left  undis- 
turbed ;  the  wheel  on  the  beam,  that  causes  the  plough 
to  run  at  a  certain  depth  in  the  soil ;  and  the  clevis  at 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  85 

the  end  of  the  beam,  for  adjusting  the  draught  or  pull 
of  the  horses.  Let  us  see  how  it  works.  When  the 
.  horses  start,  the  ploughman  lifts  the  handles,  and  the 
point  of  the  share  sinks  into  the  ground.  Then 
the  ploughman's  work  is  simply  to  guide  the  horses, 
and,  by  means  of  the  handles,  to  keep  the  plough 
straight  and  level.  The  coulter  cuts  off  the  weeds 
and  divides  the  sod ;  and  the  share,  as  it  is  dragged 
forward,  slides  through  the  soil,  and  turns  the  part 
cut  loose  by  the  coulter  upon  the  mould-board. 
Here  the  soil,  or  the  sod  if  there  is  one,  is  turned 
completely  over,  and  falls  upon  the  last  furrow  upside 
down.  If  there  is  no  sod,  the  soil  loosened  and 
broken  falls  in  a  cascade  from  the  end  of  the  mould- 
board. 

A  good  plough  turns  the  sod  completely  upside 
down  ;  it  buries  the  grass  or  other  plants  out  of  sight, 
and  leaves  the  soil  loose  and  broken  on  top ;  it  should 
also  run  straight  and  smooth,  and  be  easy  to  pull 
through  the  ground.  Ploughs  made  and  used  in  this 
country  are  among  the  best  in  the  world,  and  in  some 
respects  are  the  very  best  made  anywhere.  There  are 
many  shapes  and  styles  used  for  different  soils  and  for 
different  purposes.  Some  are  for  one  horse,  some  for 
two  or  more.  Some  are  on  wheels,  and  the  driver 
rides  on  top,  as  in  the  sulky-plough  and  gang-plough. 
There  are  ploughs  for  turning  over  wild  prairie-lands, 
and  for  moving  light  garden-soils  ;  ploughs  for  deeply 
stirring  the  subsoil,  and  for  making  ditches.  In  Eng- 
land, ploughs  are  often  drawn  through  the  ground  by 


86  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

means  of  steel  ropes  drawn  to  and  fro  across  the  fields 
by  steam-engines. 

The  plough  is  the  most  ancient  horse-power  tool  in 
the  world,  and  it  is  the  first  and  most  important  tool 
used  in  tillage.  For  this  reason  it  has  become  the 
symbol  of  agriculture,  and  it  stands  as  a  mark  on 
the  letter-heads  used  in  all  the  correspondence  of 
The  Chautauqua  Town  and  Country  Club.  With  a 
good  magnifying-glass  you  can  look  at  the  handsome 
plough  at  the  top  of  our  Club  letters,  and  you  will 
see  on  the  beam  of  the  plough  the  Club  motto, — - 
"RESULTS."  Tens  of  thousands  of  ploughs  in  the 
United  States  are  at  work  every  year,  winning  wealth 
from  our  soil.  The  results  are  food  and  crops  and 
wealth,  vast  beyond  counting,  and  the  like  of  which 
the  world  never  saw  before.  The  plough  is  indeed 
the  symbol  of  our  nation's  wealth ;  and  the  men  who 
guide  our  tens  of  thousands  of  ploughs  are  the  best 
ploughmen  who  have  ever  lived,  because  they  think 
and  read,  study,  observe,  and  learn.  So  we  too, 
though  we  may  many  of  us  never  use  a  plough,  must 
learn  to  respect  the  men  who  do,  and,  like  them,  seek 
for  RESULTS  in  work,  in  reading,  study,  observation, 
and  knowledge. 

The  crooked  branch  from  a  tree,  that  the  cave-man 
used  to  stir  the  soil,  in  time  became  the  modern 
plough.  At  the  same  time,  it  appears  to  have  still 
survived  in  another  form.  Did  you  ever  think  that 
the  common  hoe  is  only  the  cave-man's  crooked  stick 
slightly  improved?  Here  is  the  long  branch  now 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  8/ 

smooth  and  straight,  and  the  crotch  of  the  tree  turned 
into  a  flat  blade  of  steel.  This  is  another  tillage- 
tool,  as  old  as  and  perhaps  older  than  the  plough, 
come  down  to  us  from  pre-historic  men  and  times. 
No  doubt,  for  centuries  and  in  many  countries  it  was 
used  before  the  first  modern  plough  was  made.  It 
can  be  used  by  hand,  and  for  this  reason  it  is  useful 
in  many  places  where  horses  cannot  be  used.  It  is  a 
stirring  and  breaking  tool  for  opening  the  soil,  and 
making  it  light  and  loose.  It  is  also  used  to  cut  down 
and  destroy  small  plants  that  are  so  impolite  as  to 
spring  up  where  they  have  not  been  asked  to  appear. 
Some  plants  are  very  rude  at  times ;  and  the  hoe  is 
used  to  remonstrate  with  them,  and  show  them  that 
the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard.  There  are  several 
different  kinds  of  hoes ;  but  all  are  essentially  alike, 
and  are  used  to  stir  and  break  up  the  soil,  and  expose 
it  to  the  air.  A  kind  of  plough  with  many  small 
shares  under  the  beam  has  been  used  as  a  hoe :  that 
is,  it  is  used  to  break  up,  stir,  and  pulverize  the  soil 
after  ploughing;  and,  as  it  is  used  somewhat  like  a 
hoe,  it  has  been  called  a  horse-hoe.  Still  other  forms 
are  called  cultivators. 

When  the  land  has  been  broken  up  by  the  plough, 
and  the  sod  turned  over,  it  is  still  rough,  and  in  clay 
soils  is  often  full  of  hard  lumps.  The  tender  roots  of 
plants  find  it  difficult  to  push  through  these  lumps  in 
search  of  food  and  water;  and  consequently  they 
grow  slowly,  and  produce  poor  crops.  The  finer  and 
softer  the  soil  can  be  made,  the  better  the  plants  like 


88  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

it,  the  better  will  they  grow.  This  was  learned  long 
ago ;  and  various  things  have  been  used  to  scratch  the 
soil,  break  up  the  lumps,  and  make  it  fine  and  soft. 
No  doubt  the  first  thing  used  was  a  branch  of  a  tree 
dragged  over  the  ploughed  land.  Such  things  are  still 
used ;  as  when  a  farmer,  wishing  to  smooth  over  a 
rough  field,  cuts  down  half  a  dozen  small  birch-trees, 
and  fastens  them  by  the  ends  to  a  wooden  cross-bar 
dragged  over  the  ground  by  a  horse.  From  some 
such  tool  came  the  modern  harrow.  This  horse-tool 
is  now  made  in  many  shapes,  the  most  common  being 
a  wooden  triangle  armed  with  iron  teeth.  In  place 
of  teeth,  metal  disks  and  shares  of  various  shapes, 
and  even  chains,  are  sometimes  used ;  and,  when 
dragged  over  a  ploughed  field,  soon  make  the  soil 
smooth,  soft,  and  loose,  ready  for  the  tender  roots  of 
young  plants.  On  heavy  clay  lands,  where  the  plough 
is  apt  to  leave  the  soil  in  hard  lumps,  another  tool 
called  a  clod-crusher  is  used  in  place  of  a  harrow. 

Beside  these  various  forms  of  ploughs,  harrows,  cul- 
tivators, and  hoes,  there  are  also  the  spade  and  the 
garden-rake.  The  spade  is  a  tillage  tool  for  inverting 
and  breaking  up  the  soil,  and  the  iron  rake  is  for 
stirring  the  top  of  the  soil  about  young  plants.  For 
small  work,  there  are  also  trowels  and  small  hand- 
rakes. 

XVin.  EXPERIMENTS  IN  TILLAGE.  —  Not  many 
years  ago  the  farmers  in  a  certain  part  of  Ohio  found, 
as  many  American  farmers  had  found  before,  that  their 
fields  produced  less  and  less  wheat  year  after  year.  It 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  89 

is  true,  they  ploughed  their  land,  and  put  in  good  seed ; 
and  yet  the  wheat-crops  grew  smaller  and  smaller,  till 
they  began  to  despair  of  raising  any  more  wheat.  The 
crop  did  not  pay  for  the  labor  spent  on  it.  It  seems 
their  fathers  or  their  grandfathers,  or  some  other  stupid 
persons,  had  told  them  that  when  they  had  ploughed 
their  land  they  must  leave  the  lumps  and  clods  of  soil 
just  as  they  fell  from  the  plough.  The  idea  was,  that, 
after  the  wheat-seed  was  planted,  these  lumps  of  soil 
would  slowly  break  and  crumble  to  pieces,  and  protect 
the  roots  of  the  young  plants.  At  last,  just  as  every 
one  seemed  utterly  discouraged  about  growing  wheat, 
a  young  man  thought  he  would  try  a  little  experiment. 
He  ploughed  up  two  acres  of  land,  which  was  only  a 
very  poor  little  field  for  wheat.  He  ploughed  early, 
and  he  ploughed  well.  Then  he  harrowed  and  re- 
harrowed  ;  and  got  out  his  brush-scraper,  and  went 
over  the  land  again  and  again,  breaking  up  every 
lump,  till  the  soil  was  as  soft  and  fine  as  the  soil  in  a 
gardener's  flower-pot.  He  made  the  field  like  a  velvet 
carpet,  and  then  he  put  in  his  seed.  The  result  sur- 
prised all  who  saw  it ;  for  the  very  soil  that  before 
would  hardly  produce  any  thing  gave  a  crop  of  fifty- 
eight  bushels  of  good  wheat  on  two  acres  of  land, 
which  was  regarded  as  a  great  and  profitable  crop  for 
that  kind  of  land.  This  is  a  true  account  of  a  real 
experiment ;  and,  should  you  have  any  doubt  of  it, 
you  can  on  any  good  land  repeat  the  experiment  in 
many  different  ways.  The  following  experiments  are 
easily  performed ;  and  all  who  can  do  so  are  recom- 


9O  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

mended  to  select  one  or  more  of  them,  and  carry 
them  out,  and  make  a  complete  record  of  the  work 
and  the  results. 

1.  Plant  a  row  of  Early  Mohawk  beans,  twenty  feet 
long,  and  divide  it  into  two  equal  parts,  and  mark  and 
number  each  half  by  stakes  in  the  ground.     Call  one 
half  No.  i,  and  the  other  No.   2.     As  soon  as  the 
plants  appear,  note  carefully  if  there   are   about   as 
many  plants  in  No.  i  as  in  No.  2  ;  and,  if  there  are 
gaps  or  failures  in  either,  enough  plants  must  be  pulled 
up  in  the  other  to  make  them  equal.     This,  of  course, 
applies  to  all  these  experiments.     They  must  be  as 
nearly  alike  as  possible.     As  the  plants  come  up,  rake 
the  soil  for  two  feet  on  each  side  of  No.  i,  and  leave 
No.  2  untouched.     When  weeds  appear,  hoe  No.  i 
about  two  inches  deep,  but  do  not  disturb  No.  2  except 
to  pull  up  the  larger  weeds  by  hand.     After  that,  hoe 
No.  i  after  every  rain,  and  rake  the  ground  on  each 
side  once  a  week  on  pleasant  days.     Leave  No.  2  un- 
touched except  to  pull  up  weeds.     When  the  beans 
are  ready  to  pick,  pick  each  lot  separately,  and  weigh 
each  lot.    Do  this  every  time  ;  and  at  the  last  picking, 
gather  all  the  pods,  large  and  small,  and  weigh  every 
lot.     Keep  a  record  of  these  pickings  from  No.  i  and 
from  No.  2,  and  see  if  there  is  any  difference  in  the 
total  crops  of  No.  i  and  No.  2.     There  will  probably 
be  a  difference  in  favor  of  No.  i,  and  this  will  show 
the  effect  of  tillage. 

2.  Plant    twenty   hills    Crosby's    Early   sugar-corn. 
Mark  ten  of  the  hills  No.  i,  and  ten  of  them  No.  2. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  9 1 

Hoe  and  rake  the  soil  after  every  rain,  or  at  least  once 
a  week,  about  hills  No.  i,  and  let  hills  No.  2  take  care 
of  themselves  except  to  pull  up  the  larger  weeds  by 
hand.  After  the  tassels  appear,  measure  the  height  of 
all  the  stalks  in  No.  i,  and  find  their  average  height 
by  dividing  the  number  of  hills  by  the  sum  of  all  their 
heights.  Do  the  same  with  the  stalks  of  No.  2,  and 
compare  and  record  the  results.  Count  and  compare 
the  number  of  good  ears  on  each. 

3.  Plant  ten  hills  of  Early  Rose  potatoes.     When 
they  come  up,  give  five  of  them  two  good  hoeings 
during  the  summer,  to  keep  down  the  weeds.     Hoe 
or  rake  the  other  five  every  pleasant  day  through  the 
growth  of  the  plants  (Sundays  excepted).     This  will 
take  but  a  moment,  and,  if  the  plants  are   near  the 
house,  will  not  be  a  difficult  thing  to   do.     Record 
the  number  of  times  the  plant  is  hoed  or  raked ;  and 
when  the  potatoes  are  dug,  carefully  weigh  the  whole 
crop,  large  and  small,  of  each  hill,  and  record  the  dif- 
ference in  weight. 

4.  To  make  a  variety  in  this  last  experiment,  and 
to  see  if  tillage  has  any  money  value,  plant  two  lots 
of  potatoes,  say  half  or  quarter  of  an  acre  each ;  or,  of 
the  same  number  of  hills,  one  hundred  hills  being  a 
good  number.     Mark  each  lot;  and  plough,  hoe,  or 
use  the  cultivator  on  one   lot   three  times,  and   the 
other  lot  ten  times,  during  the  growing-season.     Make 

'a  careful  estimate  of  the  cost  of  this  extra  culture. 
Weigh  each  crop ;  and  if  there  is  a  gain  in  the  crop 
cultivated  ten  times,  over  the  one  cultivated  three 


92  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

times,  see  if  this  gain  at  the  usual  market-rates  will 
cover  or  exceed  the  cost  of  the  extra  tillage,  and  how 
much. 

5.  Procure  two  bean-poles,  and  set  them  up  in  the 
ground  about  six  feet  apart.  Plant  at  the  foot  of  each 
a  few  seeds  of  convolvulus  minor  tricolor.  When  the 
plants  appear,  number  one  pole  No.  i,  and  the  other 
No.  2  ;  and  rake  or  hoe  the  soil  lightly  for  a  space 
of  three  feet  round  No.  i.  Leave  No.  2  untouched. 
After  that,  rake  the  soil  about  No.  i  twice  every  week, 
on  pleasant  days,  and  leave  No.  2  untouched  except  to 
pull  up  the  larger  weeds.  Measure  the  height  of  each 
vine  once  a  week,  for  eight  weeks  from  the  day  the 
seeds  are  planted.  Record  these  measurements,  and 
compare  the  results. 

In  these  experiments,  the  effect  is  more  striking 
if  the  soil  is  untouched  since  the  previous  season. 
Plough  or  spade  up  for  lot  No.  i,  but  only  scratch  the 
surface  with  the  hoe  sufficiently  to  get  the  seeds  into 
the  ground.  These  experiments  are  easy,  and  the 
results  interesting.  It  is  quite  possible  they  will  not 
always  show  any  difference  between  the  cultivated 
plants  and  those  that  are  neglected,  but  in  the  majority 
of  instances  there  will  be  a  difference  in  favor  of  the 
plants  that  are  tilled.  In  some  experiments,  the  dif- 
ference will  be  very  small ;  still,  it  is  advisable  to  try 
the  work,  because  it  will  be  pretty  sure  to  teach  some- 
thing. Whichever  experiment  you  perform,  take  the 
utmost  pains  with  every  thing.  See  that  the  two  lots 
are  as  nearly  alike  as  possible  at  the  beginning.  If  a 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  93 

plant  is  killed  during  growth  in  any  one  lot,  a  plant 
must  be  removed  in  the  other  lot  to  keep  the  balance 
even.  Be  particularly  careful  to  note  all  the  facts  of 
the  work  ;  because  there  may  be  some  apparently  tri- 
fling circumstance,  such  as  the  neighborhood  of  a 
manure-heap,  that  may  quite  upset  all  calculations,  and 
render  the  results  quite  misleading. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  why  tillage  improves  the 
plants  growing  in  any  soil.  After  every  rain  the  sur- 
face of  the  soil  appears  to  be  hard,  as  if  a  crust  had 
formed  on  top.  In  sandy  soils  this  is  slight,  but  still 
it  is  to  be  seen ;  and  on  clay  soils  it  is  often  quite 
thick  and  hard.  Every  drop  that  falls  seems  to  beat 
the  soil  down  ;  and  when  the  sun  and  winds  dry  up 
the  soil,  after  the  rain  has  passed,  the  top  of  the  earth 
is  like  the  top  of  a  well-baked  loaf.  Through  this 
crust  very  little  air  can  pass,  and  the  roots  of  the  plants 
are  sealed  up  as  if  in  a  close  box.  With  a  rake  we 
easily  break  up  this  crust,  and  open  the  soil  to  the  air. 
The  oxygen  of  the  air  can  then  enter  the  soil  through 
millions  of  minute  holes  and  passage-ways,  combining 
with  elements  brought  down  by  the  rain  or  already 
existing  in  the  soil ;  and  the  plant,  finding  fresh  food 
prepared  for  it,  greedily  stretches  out  its  roots  to  get 
it.  No  doubt  the  fresh  air  thus  allowed  to  penetrate 
the  soil  also  ventilates  and  purifies  it,  and  makes  it  a 
sweeter  and  more  healthful  home  for  the  plants.  The 
loose,  broken  surface,  left  after  the  crust  formed  by 
rain  has  been  removed,  also  offers  millions  of  fine 
points  on  which  the  dew  may  condense,  and  thus  more 


94  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

water  is  obtained  in  times  of  drought.  A  hard  soil, 
with  the  surface  beaten  down  by  rain  and  baked  by 
the  sun,  resists  the  next  rainfall ;  and  the  water  runs 
off  over  the  surface,  tearing  up  and  carrying  away  the 
light  parts  of  the  soil,  and  leaving  the  soil  below  un- 
touched. Rain  falling  on  land  freshly  raked,  or  tilled 
by  any  tool,  quickly  sinks  into  the  soil,  carrying  down 
food  from  the  air  to  the  thirsty  plants.  This  is  the 
philosophy  of  tillage.  It  improves  the  soil  by  letting 
in  the  air,  the  rain,  frost,  and  sunlight,  to  work  on  the 
sand  and  broken  rock  in  the  soil,  and  continuing  the 
work  of  soil-making ;  it  enables  the  elements  to  meet, 
and  form  new  combinations  suitable  for  the  food  of 
plants  ;  and  it  makes  it  easy  for  the  roots  of  all  plants 
to  push  their  way  through  the  soil  in  search  of  food. 
The  roots  do  not  appear  to  actually  push  through  the 
soil,  but  to  creep  between  the  small  grains  and  lumps, 
and  to  feed  on  their  surfaces.  Thus  we  can  easily  see, 
that  in  a  barrel  of  nuts  there  is  much  more  surface  on 
the  nuts  than  in  a  barrel  filled  with  squashes.  It  is 
the  same  with  a  fine  soil  and  a  lumpy  soil. 

Of  course  we  see  that  tillage  costs  money.  If  a 
field  of  corn  is  planted,  and  cultivated  once,  it  will 
cost  more  to  cultivate  it  again  or  three  or  four  times 
more.  How  can  we  find  out  this  ?  how  tell  how  often 
it  will  pay  to  hoe  any  crop  ?  Mark  off  a  portion  of 
the  field,  —  say  an  eighth  of  an  acre,  —  and  give  this 
twice  as  much  or  even  three  times  as  much  cultivation 
as  another  piece  near  it  that  gets  no  more  care  than 
the  rest  of  the  field.  Gather  the  crop  from  each  eighth 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  SOILS.  95 

of  an  acre,  and  see  if  there  is  any  difference,  and  how 
much.  There  must  be  a  right  way  and  a  wrong  way ; 
but  the  wrong  way  is  probably  on  the  side  of  little 
tillage,  the  right  way  on  the  side  of  much  tillage. 
Experiment  will  alone  settle  the  matter. 


96  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

MANUS  — A   HAND. 

xix.  AN  OLD  FABLE.  —  Ever  since  men  gave  up 
living  in  caves  and  trees,  and  hunting  wild  animals  for 
food,  they  have  tried  to  win  more  food  by  planting 
seeds  and  tilling  the  ground.  The  ancients,  anxious 
to  explain  every  thing,  used  to  say  that  certain  fanciful 
creatures  they  called  gods  and  goddesses  came  down 
out  of  some  imaginary  place  in  the  clouds,  and  politely 
informed  certain  men  just  what  to  do  to  make  grain, 
fruits,  and  other  crops  grow.  Of  course  it  was  very 
kind  in  the  gods  ;  and  the  men  and  women  who  were 
foolish  enough  to  believe  it  all  very  properly  built 
temples,  and  wrote  poetry,  and  did  many  other  amiable 
things,  to  show  their  gratitude.  The  temples  and  the 
statues  and  poetry  are  very  fine,  and  yet  we  know  now 
that  nothing  of  the  kind  ever  took  place.  Not  a  soli- 
tary idea  in  regard  to  the  plants  or  the  soil,  or  the  sun 
or  rain  or  frost,  was  ever  sent  down  from  any  imagi- 
nary Olympus  in  the  clouds.  All  that  men  know  of 
the  soil,  the  weather,  the  plants,  or  of  the  universe, 
they  learned  from  observation  and  experiment.  Some 
savage  creature,  half  starved  in  the  forests,  saw  the 
fruit  of  a  plant,  and  ate  it,  and  threw  away  the  seeds 


MANUS — A   HAND.  97 

before  the  entrance  of  his  cave.  Months  after,  he 
noticed  young  plants  springing  from  the  ground,  and 
in  time  he  ate  fruit /rom  these  new  plants.  It  was  this 
that  suggested  to  him  to  try  gathering  fruits,  and  sav- 
ing the  seeds  for  the  purpose  of  experiment.  He  was 
the  first  man  of  science.  He  performed  an  experi- 
ment in  agriculture.  He  planted  seeds,  and  raised  a 
crop.  Others  saw  it,  and  repeated  the  experiment ; 
and  in  time  the  news  slowly  spread  from  man  to  man, 
through  the  great  forests.  Thousands  of  years  may 
have  passed  before  some  other  savage  genius  tried  a 
more  daring  experiment.  He  tried  scratching  the 
ground  about  the  poor  little  plants.  He  began  to  till 
the  soil  —  perhaps  at  first  with  only  his  hands.  After- 
wards, perhaps  long,  long  afterwards,  some  other  bold 
experimenter  tried  a  broken  limb  from  a  tree  for  a 
hoe.  This  too  slowly  spread,  and  it  was  found  that 
hand-labor  or  hand-tillage  greatly  improved  all  crops. 
Then  came  a  more  wonderful  experiment  than  all. 
Some  hard-working  tiller  found  that  if  he  took  the 
waste  matter  from  the  bodies  of  animals,  and  buried  it 
in  the  soil,  it  had  the  same  effect  as  tillage,  —  it  acted 
as  a  hand.  It  made  the  plants  grow  faster  and  larger, 
and  bear  larger  crops ;  and,  as  this  was  the  same  as 
the  effect  produced  by  hand-labor,  he  called  this 
animal  waste  manure.  In  the  language  of  his  time, 
manus  meant  a  hand :  so  we  easily  see  why  he  in- 
vented the  word  manure. 

We  cannot  tell  who  made  this  discovery  of  the  value 
of  manure.     Very  likely  it  was  discovered  in  many 


98  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

lands,  and  perhaps  in  some  countries  hundreds  of  years 
before  it  was  given  this  name.  The  fact  that  manure 
can  be  used  to  improve  soils,  and  thus  improve  crops, 
has  probably  been  known  in  China  for  thousands  of 
years.  There  is  no  record  of  the  time  or  place  where 
the  discovery  was  really  made.  It  is  not  important  to 
know  dates  and  names  in  such  a  matter.  It  was  one 
of  those  great  discoveries  that  first  taught  men  how  to 
win  wealth  from  the  ground  ;  and  it  probably  did  more 
to  help  men  to  become  civilized  than  any  other  single 
discovery  ever  made.  No  fanciful  goddess  whispered 
the  secret  to  priests  in  ancient  temples :  it  was  dis- 
covered by  experiment.  While  this  great  fact  —  that 
manure  placed  in  the  soil  improves  it,  and  benefits  all 
plants  growing  in  it  —  has  been  known  for  a  long  time, 
it  was  only  within  a  short  time  that  men  learned  by 
experiments  why  and  how  it  works. 

We  go  out  in  the  fields,  and  see  grass  or  oats  grow- 
ing in  the  soil.  We  know  these  plants  take  from  the 
ground  more  or  less  of  the  fourteen  elements  in  the 
soil.  We  know,  if  the  grass  and  oats  are  cut  down 
and  carried  away  to  the  barn,  the  soil  is  robbed  of  a 
portion  of  each  of  these  elements.  We  know  —  for 
our  worn-out  farms  in  New  England  prove  it  —  that  if 
we  go  on  year  after  year  carrying  away  all  the  plants 
that  will  grow  in  the  fields,  the  time  will  come  when 
one,  two,  or  three  of  these  fourteen  elements  will  be 
used  up,  and  the  plants  will  grow  less  and  less,  year  by 
year,  and  refuse  to  produce  enough  to  pay  for  planting 
the  seed.  In  the  barn  we  find  a  horse  eating  this 


MANUS — A   HAND.  99 

grass  and  oats,  and  consuming  these  very  elements  the 
plants  took  from  the  ground.  After  each  meal  the 
horse  digests  his  food ;  using  a  part  to  keep  himself 
warm,  and  enable  him  to  live,  grow,  and  work,  and  re- 
jecting all  the  rest.  Beneath  the  barn  we  know  there 
lies  in  the  cellar  a  quantity  of  matter,  —  unfit  for  any 
purpose  except  to  be  buried  in  the  ground  out  of 
sight.  Chemists  tell  us  that  in  this  matter  are  portions 
of  the-  fourteen  elements  carried  away  from  the  soil 
by  the  plants  that  were  eaten  by  the  horse.  This  is 
nature's  grand  circle  :  that  which  the  plants  take  from 
the  ground,  the  animals  return.  Thus  it  is  true  that 
seedtime  and  harvest  shall  not  fail.  The  soil  will  never 
fail  to  give  bountiful  harvests,  while  plants  grow,  and 
animals  live.  The  only  thing  that  stands  in  the  way 
is  the  selfishness  and  greediness  of  men,  who  by  the 
means  of  plants  rob  the  soil,  taking  all  its  elements 
away,  and  bringing  none  back  again.  We  gather  wheat 
and  corn  in  vast  and  wonderful  harvests,  and  send  it 
away  to  Europe.  We  carry  off  thousands  of  tons  from 
our  land  every  year  in  tobacco-plants ;  and  then  with 
stupendous  folly  burn  it  up,  and  wonder  why  our  soils 
grow  poorer  and  poorer  year  by  year.  We  may  think 
the  farmer's  manure-heap  very  vulgar,  and  refuse  to 
think  or  speak  about  it ;  yet  so  God  has  arranged  the 
law  of  his  beautiful  world  :  that  which  the  plant  needs, 
the  animal  returns.  Let  no  man  call  any  thing  un- 
clean. "  Dirt  is  matter  out  of  place ; "  and  half  the 
science  of  agriculture  consists  in  knowing  how  to  put 
the  right  thing  in  the  right  place. 


100  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

xx.  FERTILIZERS.  —  When  all  the  fourteen  or 
seventeen  elements  are  present  in  abundance  in  any 
soil,  we  say  it  infertile.  It  must  be  noticed,  however, 
that  in  nearly  all  poor  or  unfertile  soils  we  shall  find  it 
is  only  three  of  these  elements  that  are  usually  missing, 
the  others  being  everywhere  abundant.  When  one  or 
more  of  these  elements  are  missing,  and  we  add  any 
thing  containing  the  missing  elements,  we  call  the 
material,  whatever  it  may  be,  a  fertilizer.  Fertilizers 
include  plants,  seeds  and  parts  of  plants,  waste  matter 
from  animals,  the  remains  of  creatures  of  every  kind, 
fish,  bones,  hair,  shells,  etc.,  rocks  containing  remains 
of  animals  or  particular  elements,  and  waste  materials 
from  shops  and  works  of  every  kind.  For  conven- 
ience, fertilizers  are  divided  into  three  classes  :  first, 
living  plants  or  green  manure ;  second,  waste  matter 
from  animals,  or  manure  ;  and,  third,  all  those  various 
materials,  —  ground  bones,  crushed  rock,  prepared 
chemicals,  blood  and  slaughter-house  waste,  saltpetre, 
potash  salts,  and  phosphatic  rock  and  waste  matter 
from  some  kinds  of  manufactories,  —  all  of  these 
receiving  the' general  name  of  commercial  fertilizers. 

Let  us  return  a  moment,  and  recall  the  elements 
needed  by  plants,  and  that  are  to  be  found  in  greater 
or  less  quantities  in  any  rich  and  fertile  soil.  These 
elements  are  oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  carbon,  sili- 
con, sulphur,  phosphorus,  chlorine,  potassium,  sodium, 
calcium,  magnesium,  aluminium,  and  iron.  There  are 
also  three  more,  —  manganese,  iodine,  and  fluorine ; 
but  the  first  fourteen  are  the  most  important,  and  of 


MANUS — A   HAND.  IOI 

the  whole  seventeen  only  three  will  require  our  careful 
attention.  Let  us  examine  them  again,  and 'endeavor 
to  understand  this  matter.  It  is  not  half  so  difficult 
as  it  appears  at  first  sight ;  and  when  we  once  get  at 
the  facts,  experiment  will  easily  show  us  what  to  do 
with  every  kind  of  soil. 

Oxygen,  we  remember,  is  a  gas.  It  is  abundant  in 
the  air  and  in  the  water,  and,  combined  with  other 
elements,  forms  the  larger  part  of  every  soil,  however 
rich,  however  poor.  As  it  is  in  water  and  in  air,  and 
as  it  is  ever  eager  to  unite  with  other  elements  in  the 
soil,  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  give  the  air  and  water  a 
chance.  Tillage  settles  that.  The  plough,  the  hoe, 
the  harrow,  the  spade,  and  the  rake  invite  the  oxygen 
to  come  in  and  be  at  home  in  the  soil.  So  we  have 
not  to  think  about  the  oxygen.  There  will  always  be 
oxygen  in  every  soil,  even  without  tillage ;  and  with 
tillage  there  will  be  more  than  enough  for  every  crop. 
It  is  the  same  with  carbon  and  hydrogen.  They  are 
abundant  in  the  air ;  and  though  these  three,  oxygen, 
carbon,  and  hydrogen,  form  the  larger  part  of  every 
plant,  we  need  not  concern  ourselves  about  them, 
because  every  plant  in  a  well-tilled  soil,  if  well  supplied 
with  water,  will  find  more  than  it  wants  of  each.  Of 
course  we  must  keep  in  mind,  all  the  time,  that  none 
of  the  fourteen  elements  are  used  by  the  plants  in  a 
pure  state.  All  are  combined  in  some  way  with  others 
in  every  soil. 

The  silicon,  sulphur,  chlorine,  sodium,  magnesium, 
aluminium,  iron,  manganese,  iodine,  and  fluorine  can 


IO2  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

be  found  in  nearly  every  soil ;  and,  as  the  plants  need 
only  very  small  portions  of  each,  we  need  have  no  fear 
that  they  will  not  find  enough  everywhere.  Tillage 
will  help  to  supply  these  also ;  because  the  elements 
exist  in  many  rocks,  and  tillage  brings  air  and  water 
into  the  soil  to  release  the  elements  from  the  sand  and 
clay.  This  leaves  us  four  elements,  —  nitrogen,  phos- 
phorus, potassium,  and  calcium ;  and  these  we  shall 
also  find  in  any  fertile  soil.  In  wild  virgin  soil  they 
are  abundant ;  and  plants  in  such  soils  grow  wonder- 
fully, and  produce  bountiful  crops.  Wild  plants,  like 
trees,  growing  in  a  virgin  soil,  shed  their  leaves  every 
year,  and  in  time  die,  and  decay  upon  the  ground. 
In  this  way  they  return  to  the  soil  all  the  elements 
they  took  from  it,  and  the  soil  remains  fertile.  When 
we  clear  away  the  trees,  and  plant  corn,  cotton,  or 
potatoes,  and  then  carry  off  the  crop,  the  whole  thing 
is  changed.  In  the  crops  carried  away,  are  all  the 
elements  taken  from  the  soil ;  and  the  soil  is  robbed 
of  just  so  much.  If  we  go  on  planting  crops,  even 
with  the  best  of  tillage,  the  time  will  come  when  these 
four  elements  will  dwindle  away.  The  plants  will  live 
and  grow,  perhaps  for  many  years,  perhaps  as  long  as 
we  choose  to  plant  the  seeds ;  but  the  crops  will  be 
smaller  and  smaller  till  at  last  they  are  not  worth  the 
gathering.  We  must  understand  that  a  plant  in  grow- 
ing must  have  all  the  elements  in  reach,  if  it  is  to  be 
vigorous  and  thrifty,  and  bear  good  crops.  If  one 
be  wanting,  it  will  bear  less  and  less  every  year.  The 
plant  cannot  speak ;  the  soil  refuses  to  tell  us,  except 


MANUS — A   HAND.  1 03 

K 

by  costly  and  troublesome  analysis,  which  element  is 
missing :  but  we  may  be  very  sure  it  is  one  of  these 
four.  If  the  soil  is  poor  and  the  crops  are  light,  and 
the  business  of  raising  crops  is  unprofitable,  some  one 
or  more  elements  are  missing,  or  have  been  eaten  up 
by  previous  crops ;  and  these  elements  will  be  these 
same  four.  We  need  not  trouble  ourselves  about  the 
oxygen,  the  silicon,  the  iron,  and  others.  They  will 
look  after  themselves ;  and  we  have  only  to  consider 
the  nitrogen,  phosphorus,  potassium,  and  calcium. 
The  last,  calcium  or  lime,  is  abundant  in  many  soils, 
and  on  such  soils  need  not  be  considered.  Where  it 
is  not  found  naturally  in  the  soil,  it  may  be  added. 
How  to  tell  whether  it  is  needed  in  any  soil,  is  purely 
a  matter  of  experiment,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 
This  leaves  only  three  elements,  and  makes  the  whole 
matter  very  simple. 

XXI.  PLANTS  AS  FERTILIZERS.  —  If  we  pull 
a  living  plant,  like  a  pea-vine  or  clover,  out  of  the 
ground,  we  shall  find  in  the  stem,  roots,  branches, 
flowers,  or  fruit,  all  the  various  elements  it  has  obtained 
from  the  soil,  the  water,  and  the  air.  Taken  from  its 
home  in  the  ground,  the  plant  soon  dies.  It  begins 
to  wither,  it  shrinks  and  shrivels  up,  and  loses  nearly 
all  its  weight.  If  we  go  on  drying  it  by  placing  it  in 
an  oven,  it  loses  more  and  more  weight,  and  finally 
becomes  merely  a  mass  of  brittle  material  that  readily 
breaks  up  into  dust.  Such  a  green,  soft  plant  will  give, 
when  perfectly  dry,  only  a  small  part  of  its  original 
weight  or  bulk.  If  we  take  this  light,  brittle  matter, 


IO4  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

and  burn  it,  we  shall  have  a  little  smoke,  and  last  of 
all  a  pinch  of  soft  ashes.  In  this  drying  and  burning, 
the  dead  plant  parts  with  a  portion  of  the  elements  it 
contained,  by  permitting  them  to  float  away  unseen  on 
the  air.  The  rest  it  leaves  in  its  ashes.  We  can 
gather  up  the  ashes,  and  put  them  back  in  the  soil, 
and  they  will  be  ready  for  some  new  plant  growing  on 
the  spot  occupied  by  the  dead  pea-vine  or  clover- 
plant.  All  the  elements  burned  up  in  the  plants,  that 
were  lost  in  drying,  and  that  disappeared  as  gas  and 
smoke,  remain  in  the  air,  or  fall  to  the  ground,  and 
thus  go  to  feed  other  plants.  All  the  elements  left  in 
the  ashes  are  also  ready,  when  put  back  in  the  soil,  to 
be  used  by  other  plants.  A  thin,  poor  soil  can  thus 
be  made  more  fertile  by  sowing  clover,  and,  when  the 
plants  are  about  one-third  grown,  ploughing  the  live 
plants  under,  and  burying  them  out  of  sight.  The 
green  plants  will  decay,  and  restore  to  the  soil  the 
elements  they  took  from  the  air  and  water,  and  leave 
all  their  elements  in  a  condition  fit  for  food  for  another 
and  a  better  crop  that  is  to  follow.  Besides  this,  the 
dead  clover  causes  the  soil  to  be  light,  loose,  and 
ready  for  the  roots  of  new  plants.  The  next  plants 
will  find  more  organic  matter  in  the  soil  than  before, 
and  will  take  up  the  elements  left  by  the  clover,  and 
grow  larger,  and  bear  better  crops,  than  if  the  clover 
had  not  lived  and  died  for  their  benefit. 

This  plan  of  burying  live  green  plants  in  the  ground 
is  called  green-manuring.  The  best  plants  for  this 
purpose  are  pease  and  clover,  and  when  used  in  this 


MANUS — A   HAND.  1 05 

way  they  are  fertilizers.  Of  course  the  pease  and 
clover  ploughed  under  are  lost  as  far  as  crops  of  pease 
and  clover  are  concerned ;  yet  so  great  is  the  gain  to 
the  next  crop,  that  in  many  places  the  farmer  can  well 
afford  to  lose  the  clover  and  pea-plants  for  the  sake  of 
the  next  crop  that  follows  them.  The  pease  and  clover 
are  rich  in  the  element  called  nitrogen ;  and  this,  too, 
makes  them  useful  for  green  manure.  By  the  use  of 
green  manure,  poor  and  barren  soils  may  be  made 
fertile,  and  even  good  soils  greatly  improved.  Plants 
thus  make  the  cheapest  of  all  fertilizers,  and  can  be 
used  when  other  manure  cannot  be  obtained.  This 
use  of  plants  also  shows  us  one  thing  more.  If  a 
plant  buried  in  the  soil  restores  to  it  the  elements  it 
obtained  from  the  soil  and  the  air,  then  all  the  useless 
plants  in  our  fields  and  gardens  should  be  at  once 
returned  to  the  ground.  Suppose  we  have  a  kitchen 
or  flower  garden.  We  plant  pease,  and,  when  the 
peas  are  ripe,  gather  them  for  the  table.  There  are 
the  vines  standing  in  the  garden,  and  there  are  the 
pea-pods.  Many  people  throw  both  away :  the  pods 
go  to  the  waste-barrel ;  and  the  vines  are  left  where 
they  stand,  to  go  on  robbing  the  soil,  or  they  are 
pulled  up,  and  left  to  wilt  and  die  in  a  corner.  The 
true  way  is  to  pull  up  every  vine  the  very  day  the  last 
pease  are  gathered,  and  to  bury  them  with  the  pods 
in  the  ground.  We  have  already  learned  in  our  studies 
of  climate,  that,  when  a  crop  is  gathered,  the  ground 
should  be  planted  again  with  some  other  crop.  By 
using  the  vines  as  a  fertilizer,  we  clear  the  ground  and 


106  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

get  rid  of  the  old  plants,  stop  the  waste  of  more  ele- 
ments from  the  soil,  and  return  those  already  taken 
out,  and  make  them  ready  for  the  next  crop.  It  is 
the  same  with  all  plants.  When  the  mignonnette 
ceases  to  bloom,  dig  it  into  the  ground,  and  plant 
more.  When  the  tomatoes,  the  strawberries,  the 
beans,  and  other  things  are  gathered,  bury  the  plants 
at  once.  When  the  frost  cuts  down  the  flowering 
plants  in  the  fall,  pull  every  thing  up  at  once,  and 
bury  it  in  the  soil.  Gather  all  leaves,  trimmings,  and 
waste  parts  of  every  green  thing,  and  bury  it.  A 
convenient  way  to  do  this  is  to  make  a  compost-heap. 
Throw  the  old  plants  in  a  heap,  and  cover  them  over 
with  fresh  soil  thrown  on  top.  Let  nothing  green  go 
to  waste,  and  slowly  and  surely  your  garden  will  bear 
better  crops  and  fairer  and  more  abundant  flowers 
year  by  year.  The  soil  will  become  darker  and  richer, 
and  lighter  to  move  with  the  spade  or  hoe.  In  kitchen- 
gardens,  nothing  should  be  taken  from  the  garden, 
except  the  things  actually  used  on  the  table.  If  beets, 
turnips,  or  carrots  are  pulled,  bury  the  tops ;  if  cabbages 
are  gathered,  save  the  larger  leaves  for  fertilizers.  Save 
every  thing,  gather  up  every  green  thing,  every  weed 
and  waste  leaf,  and  bury  in  a  compost-heap  or  in  the 
ground.  If,  in  the  fall,  rubbish  and  brush  are  left, 
burn  it  all,  and  scatter  the  ashes  on  the  ground,  and 
at  once  cover  it  over  with  soil.  Pursue  the  other  and 
more  common  plan,  —  waste  every  thing,  take  all  you 
can  get  out  of  the  soil,  and  return  nothing,  —  and 
year  by  year  the  soil  will  take  a  sharper  revenge  for 


MANUS — A   HAND.  IO/ 

the  wrong  you  have  done.  Good  Fortune  will  leave 
your  home,  and  hungry  Poverty  will  come  unbidden, 
and  sit  at  your  dinner-table.  The  cotton-plant  is 
valuable  to  us  for  its  lint,  but  the  lint  is  a  very  small 
part  of  the  plant.  On  many  a  cotton-plantation,  in 
the  past,  the  plants  were  left  to  wither  away  in  the 
ground,  and  the  seeds,  rich  in  precious  elements,  were 
thrown  away  and  lost ;  and  then  the  planter  wondered 
why  his  poor,  starved  fields  refused  to  grow  more 
cotton.  Planters  are  wiser  now,  and  the  seeds,  even 
when  crushed  to  extract  the  oil,  are  carefully  returned 
to  the  ground  as  a  fertilizer ;  and  the  plants  are  buried, 
or  burned  and  the  ashes  returned  to  the  land,  that  the 
future  crops  may  not  perish  of  starvation.  It  may  be 
thought  just  here,  that,  if  animals  produce  manure,  it 
would  be  better  to  give  them  the  waste  plants  to  eat. 
This  is  true,  and  we  shall  consider  it  in  future  studies. 
But  in  gardens  where  no  cows  or  pigs  are  kept,  all  use- 
less plants  and  weeds  should  be  buried  in  the  ground 
or  compost-heap  just  as  soon  as  possible ;  for,  the 
greener  and  fresher  they  are,  the  more  they  will  enrich 
the  soil. 

xxn.  WHAT  TO  DO.  —  When  men  first  began 
to  use  manure  to  improve  the  soil,  they  knew  nothing 
of  the  elements  of  the  soil.  They  only  knew  that  a 
field  that  is  manured  bears  larger  crops  than  one  that 
is  not  manured.  Their  experiments  proved  that  when 
manure  is  applied  year  after  year,  the  soil  remains 
continually  fertile,  and  thus  an  old  field  becomes  just 
as  good  as  a  new  one.  There  they  stopped ;  and 


IO8  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

why  and  how  the  manure  affected  the  soil,  they  did 
not  know.  We  know  now  that  a  plant  living  in  the 
soil  requires  all  the  seventeen  elements,  and  dies  or 
grows  slowly  if  one  be  absent.  The  three  most  likely 
to  be  absent  are  nitrogen,  potassium,  and  phosphorus  ; 
and  these  three  are  present  in  greater  or  less  quanti- 
ties in  all  fresh  manure.  It  is  for  this  reason  manure 
is  the  best  fertilizer  for  all  crops.  It  brings  back  to 
the  soil  nitrogen,  phosphorus,  and  potassium ;  and 
these  are  the  very  three  most  likely  to  be  needed. 
The  oxygen,  the  carbon,  and  all  the  other  elements 
are  plentiful;  and  by  adding  these  three  we  restore 
to  the  soil  all  the  plants  are  ever  likely  to  want. 
There  will  be  other  elements  in  the  manure  ;  but  as 
these  are  not  wanted,  no  harm,  but  only  good,  is  done. 
One  of  the  most  curious  things  about  this  matter  is, 
that  the  manure  from  different  animals  differs  greatly, 
and  consequently  has  more  or  less  of  the  three  ele- 
ments. This  is  a  matter  we  must  examine,  but  we 
must  leave  it  till  we  come  to  our  Chautauqua  Talks 
about  Animals.  All  we  have  to  do  now  is  to  observe 
that  the  farm-manure  commonly  made  on  our  farms 
contains  the  three  elements,  —  nitrogen,  phosphorus, 
and  potassium;  and  it  is  therefore  a  good  fertilizer 
for  every  variety  of  soil  and  every  kind  of  crop. 

Beside  this  green  manure  from  living  plants,  and 
this  barn  and  stable  manure,  there  are  many  other 
materials — guano,  marl,  phosphatic  rocks,  waste  matter 
from  factories  and  shops,  bones  and  other  remains  of 
fish  and  animals  —  that  contain  more  or  less  of  these 


MANUS — A   HAND.  1 09 

three  elements ;  and  if  these  things  are  placed  in  the 
soil,  they  act  as  fertilizers.  Such  fertilizers  are  called 
commercial  fertilizers,  and  they  are  very  largely  used 
in  place  of  manures.  There  seems  to  be,  at  first 
glance,  a  great  variety;  and  we  may  wonder  which 
we  had  better  use  for  our  plants.  If  we  read  the 
advertisements  of  the  people  who  sell  these  fertilizers, 
we  might  fancy  all  we  had  to  do  would  be  to  buy  a 
few  bags  of  these  wonderful  things,  and  have  potatoes 
as  big  as  watermelons  and  corn  as  tall  as  a  two-story 
house.  These  commercial  fertilizers  are  good,  some 
of  them  are  very  good  indeed ;  and  if  we  wish  to 
raise  good  crops  in  our  old  fields,  we  shall  do  well 
to  purchase  some  of  them.  Which  shall  we  buy  ?  One 
man  says  his  fertilizer  will  make  our  Lima  beans  try 
to  climb  a  steeple ;  and  another  man  shows  us  beau- 
tiful pictures  of  wheat  as  tall  as  a  horse,  and  other 
wonderful  crops,  growing  on  soils  made  rich  with  his 
special  and  truly  remarkable  chemicals.  How  shall 
we  find  out  whether  our  fields  require  nitrogen,  phos- 
phorus, or  potassium  ?  How  can  we  tell  whether  the 
land  would  produce  more  if  calcium  were  put  upon 
it?  If  we  look  at  these  commercial  fertilizers,  we 
shall  be  more  bewildered  than  ever.  Not  one  of 
them  gives  the  slightest  sign  of  these  elements  as  they 
appear  in  a  pure  state.  The  fertilizers  look  like  mere 
dust  and  ashes,  having  a  strong  and  disagreeable 
smell ;  and  we  have  to  trust  to  the  dealer  in  these 
things.  If  he  says  nitrogen  is  locked  up  in  his  bags 
of  chemicals,  we  must  take  his  word  for  it.  This  is 


110  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

what  we  must  do  in  nearly  all  business  ;  and  no  doubt 
the  dealer  is  a  good  and  honest  man,  and  knows  what 
he  tells  us.  Dishonesty  never  pays  in  the  long-run, 
in  any  business ;  and  the  real  question  before  us  is, 
which  of  all  these  various  kinds  of  fertilizers  we  shall 
buy  for  our  particular  piece  of  land. 

Experiment  is  our  only  guide.  We  have  a  field  or 
garden  in  which  crops  have  been  growing  for  many 
years,  and  the  soil  is  worn  out.  It  wants  something, 
but  what  it  wants  we  do  not  know.  Our  first  step 
must  be  to  find  out  which  element  is  missing.  Per- 
haps the  hills  about  our  land  are  full  of  limestone. 
It  is  a  limestone  country,  and  there  may  be  enough 
lime  or  calcium  already  in  the  soil.  However,  we  may 
not  be  sure  of  this,  and  we  must  find  this  out  by 
experiment.  If,  after  we  have  tried  it  once,  we  find 
it  is  not  needed,  we  can  omit  it  after  that. 

We  now  proceed  to  lay  off  a  level  place  in  the  field 
where  the  soil  is  to  be  tested,  and  mark  out  ten 
squares,  each  measuring  one  rod  on  each  side.  We 
place  these  in  two  rows,  leaving  spaces  three  feet  wide 
between  the  squares.  These  empty  spaces  or  walks 
are  to  be  kept  clear  and  free  from  weeds  as  long  as 
the  experiment  continues.  Each  square  should  be 
marked  by  stakes  at  the  corners,  and  properly  num- 
bered as  in  the  accompanying  diagram. 

These  squares  are  to  be  planted  with  the  same  crop, 
and  cultivated  through  one  season ;  and  each  square 
is  to  be  a  testing-place  for  fertilizers.  Two  of  these 
squares  —  Nos.  2  and  9  —  are  to  have  no  fertilizers. 


MANUS — A   HAND. 


Ill 


This   is   to  serve  as  a  check  or  guide  in  testing  the 
other  squares.     Square  No.  i  is  to  have  a  fertilizer 


No.  i. 


No.  2. 


No.  3. 


No.  4. 


No.  5. 


Nitrogen 

No 

Potassium 

and 

Nitrogen. 

and 

Potassium. 

Potassium. 

fertilizer. 

Phosphorus. 

No.  6. 


No.  7. 


No.  9. 


No.  10. 


Nitrogen 

Nitrogen, 

No 

and 

Phosphorus. 

Phosphorus, 

Calcium. 

Phosphorus. 

Potassium. 

fertilizer. 

containing  nitrogen  and  potassium ;  No.  3  is  to  have 
a  fertilizer  containing  nitrogen  only ;  No.  4,  potassium 
and  phosphorus  combined;  No.  5,  potassium  alone; 
No.  6,  nitrogen  and  phosphorus ;  No.  7,  phosphorus 
alone ;  No.  8,  all  three  elements  combined ;  and  No. 
10  is  to  have  calcium  only. 

To  perform  the  experiment,  fertilizers  containing 
these  elements  are  to  be  placed  on  each  of  the 
squares,  and  carefully  worked  into  the  soil,  about  two 
or  three  inches  deep,  before  the  crop  is  planted.  No 
rule  can  be  laid  down  for  the  amounts  to  be  used, 
but  two  bushels  on  each  square  will  be  about  a  fair 
quantity.  After  this  each  of  the  ten  squares  is  to  be 
planted  with  the  same  seed,  at  the  same  time,  and 
carefully  cultivated  through  the  entire  season,  treating 
all  the  squares  exactly  alike. 


112  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

We  will  suppose  that  potatoes  have  been  used. 
During  the  growing-season,  carefully  observe  the  dif- 
ferent plats,  and  see  if  any  one  or  more  appears  to 
be  more  or  less  thrifty  than  the  others.  Notice  which 
plat  appears  to  mature  first,  and  which  blooms  first, 
and  keep  a  record  of  the  observations.  At  the  end  of 
the  season,  carefully  dig  the  crop  on  each  square,  gath- 
ering all  the  tubers  large  and  small,  and  weigh  each 
lot.  First  weigh  the  crops  on  squares  2  and  9.  This 
will  serve  as  a  standard  of  comparison,  as  it  will  show 
the  natural  condition  of  the  soil.  If  there  is  any 
difference  between  them,  get  the  average.  Record  the 
weights  in  each  lot ;  and,  just  for  illustration,  we  may 
say  it  is  something  like  this  :  Average  of  2  and  9, 
80  Ibs. ;  No.  i,  380  Ibs. ;  No.  3,  250  Ibs. ;  No.  4,  360 
Ibs. ;  No.  5,  350  Ibs.;  No.  6,  300  Ibs.;  No.  7,  220 
Ibs. ;  No.  8,  400  Ibs. ;  No.  10,  100  Ibs.  This  is  a 
purely  imaginary  crop.  It  might  vary  greatly  in  differ- 
ent soils,  and  this  variation  is  the  point  we  want  to 
notice.  On  the  particular  soil  we  are  supposed  to  be 
testing,  we  clearly  see  that  the  land  is  benefited  in 
some  degree  by  the  addition  of  every  element.  Cal- 
cium helps,  and  this  means  that  it  should  be  used 
on  that  soil  in  addition  to  any  and  all  of  the  others. 
Potassium  and  phosphorus  helped  the  most  alone, 
and  still  more  when  put  together.  All  three  elements 
naturally  produced  the  best  results  of  all.  It  is  plain 
that  this  soil  needs  all  four,  — calcium,  nitrogen,  phos- 
phorus, and  potassium.  Squares  Nos.  10,  3,  7,  and  5 
show  us  the  proportions  in  which  these  elements  should 


MANUS — A   HAND.  113 

be  used,  and"  they  will  stand  in  this  order :  calcium, 
nitrogen,  phosphorus,  and  potassium;  the  last  being 
most  important. 

Another  and  a  more  simple  way  to  repeat  this  ex- 
periment is  to  select  in  the  spring  a  level  space  of 
grass-land,  and  to  set  up  ten  stakes  in  the  grass  in  two 
rows  two  rods  apart,  and  two  rods  apart  in  the  row. 
Number  and  mark  the  stakes  as  in  the  squares.  Then 
scatter  on  the  grass,  for  ten  feet  about  each  stake,  the 
fertilizers  containing  these  elements,  in  the  same  order 
as  in  the  squares ;  leaving  the  space  about  stakes  Nos. 
2  and  9  untouched.  As  the  grass  grows,  carefully 
observe  from  week  to  week  the  grass  about  each  stake, 
and  see  if  it  grows  any  faster  or  taller  and  thicker,  or 
shows  a  darker  color,  about  one  more  than  another. 
These  surface  indications  will  tell  a  good  deal  in  regard 
to  the  wants  of  the  land,  though  the  results  will  not  be 
so  accurate  as  in  the  first  experiment.  In  the  Eastern 
States  nearly  every  experiment  will  show  that  any  fer- 
tilizer containing  potassium  will  produce  the  best 
results  with  all  crops. 

Where  shall  we  find  these  four  elements?  Calcium 
is  found  in  the  form  of  lime,  land-plaster,  and  gypsum. 
We  require  less  of  this  than  of  the  other  three ;  and, 
if  our  experiments  prove  that  it  does  not  help  greatly, 
we  can  omit  it.  If  it  does  appear  to  help,  one  good 
dressing  of  forty  or  fifty  bushels  per  acre  will  be  good 
for  fifteen  years. 

The  nitrogen  we  shall  find  in  manure,  in  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  nitrate  of  soda,  guano,  fish-guano  or  scraps, 


114  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

castor  pomace,  dried  blood,  and  tankage  or  slaughter- 
house waste. 

We  shall  find  phosphorus  in  bones  of  animals, 
bone-meal,  etc.,  mineral  phosphates  and  the  so-called 
phosphoric  fertilizers,  superphosphates,  etc.,  and  in 
foxva-manure. 

We  shall  find  potassium  in  wood-ashes,  potash  salts, 
and  in  manure. 

These  are  some  of  the  names  given  to  the  commer- 
cial fertilizers  now  for  sale  everywhere,  and  advertised 
in  all  the  agricultural  papers ;  and  each  element  can 
be  found  singly  or  combined  with  the  others,  and  in 
any  proportion  that  you  may  need,  in  some  of  these 
fertilizers.  Observe  this  most  important  fact :  Manure 
contains  all  three,  and  for  this  reason  is  called  a  com- 
plete fertilizer.  Many  of  the  commercial  fertilizers  are 
also  called  complete  fertilizers ;  and  this  means  that 
they  contain  potassium,  phosphorus,  and  nitrogen  in 
different  proportions. 

This  is  the  sum  of  this  whole  matter.  The  soil 
becomes  exhausted  of  certain  elements.  We  do  not 
know  which ;  but  by  applying  all  three  to  any  partic- 
ular piece  of  land,  we  can  tell  very  nearly  which  is 
wanted.  If  any  application  produces  a  small  effect, 
or  only  increases  the  crop  slightly,  it  is  already  abun- 
dant in  the  soil,  and  we  need  apply  only  a  little  more. 
If  the  effect  upon  the  crops  is  marked  and  very  plain, 
the  soil  needs  that  particular  element.  Manure,  we 
shall  find,  always  improves  the  soil,  because  it  is  a 
complete  fertilizer,  containing  all  three  elements,  and 


MANUS — A   HAND.  115 

because  it  makes  it  lighter,  and  adds  organic  matter 
to  the  soil.  The  supply  of  the  commercial  fertilizers 
increases  every  year,  as  men  of  science  find  out  how 
to  make  and  use  them.  Every  waste  matter  is  now 
searched  for  these  precious  three ;  and  where  before 
many  things  were  thrown  away  as  useless,  or  buried  in 
the  ground  or  the  sea,  now  all  is  saved  and  prepared 
for  the  use  of  the  farmer,  that  his  fields  no  longer  grow 
lean,  and  his  crops  perish  for  hunger.  The  cost  of 
these  fertilizers  has  been  much  reduced  in  the  last  few 
years,  and  it  may  be  the  cost  will  be  still  further  re- 
duced as  science  finds  new  sources  of  supply.  The 
supply  is  never  likely  to  give  out,  and  each  year  the 
people  see  that  the  old  law  of  nature  is  right:  That 
which  comes  from  the  soil  must  be  returned  to  the  soil. 
In  this  way  the  land  will  be  a  bank  that  will  pay 
good  dividends  long  after  every  gold-mine  in  the  world 
is  exhausted.  In  this  way  the  soil  will  supply  food  for 
countless  millions  of  people,  and  farms  will  cover  all 
the  earth,  so  that  no  man  can  number  the  bountiful 
crops  that  will  spring  up  to  feed  and  clothe  the  people. 
What  is  our  duty  in  the  matter?  We  must  learn 
of  these  things.  Observe,  study,  and  experiment.  If 
you  own  land,  remember  it  is  a  trust.  You  have  no 
right  to  rob  the  soil.  You  dare  not  rob  a  bank,  or 
your  father,  lest  you  come  to  poverty  or  the  jail. 
How  much  more,  then,  are  you  bound  in  honor  not 
to  rob  the  soil  made  by  the  Creator  for  the  use  of  all 
his  children.  If  you  receive  the  land  from  your  fath- 
ers, you  are  bound  to  leave  it  to  your  children  in  better 


Il6  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

condition  than  you  found  it.  You  cannot  rob  the  soil, 
and  hope  to  escape  all  punishment.  Your  children's 
children  will  resent  your  theft  in  their  poverty,  and, 
when  they  learn  the  truth  of  all  these  things  we  have 
been  considering,  will  remember  you  only  with  shame. 
There  is  no  excuse  in  this  matter.  A  simple  experi- 
ment, well  planned  and  faithfully  carried  out,  will  tell 
you  what  to  do.  It  is  not  a  deep  science  fit  only 
for  the  schoolmen.  It  means  only  experiment,  experi- 
ment, and  experiment.  Try  things,  and  learn,  and, 
having  learned,  do  what  is  right  by  your  soil ;  and  it 
will  return  all  your  labor  in  full  measure,  running  over, 
and  your  children  will  inherit  the  land  as  a  well-kept 
trust  and  blessing. 


ARTIFICIAL  SOILS.  1 1? 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

ARTIFICIAL  SOILS. 

xxm.  POTTING  SOILS.  —  In  our  talks  about  the 
soil,  we  have  so  far  considered  the  natural  loam,  or 
earth  as  we  find  it  in  our  gardens.  Now,  we  know 
that  thousands  of  plants  live  in  pots  through  the  whole 
or  a  part  of  their  lives,  and  these  plants  must  have  a 
soil  of  their  own.  We  have  already  studied  artificial 
climates  in  cold-frames,  hotbeds,  greenhouses,  grape- 
ries, and  plant-houses  of  all  kinds ;  and  we  learn  that 
there  are  also  artificial  soils  for  plants  growing  in  these 
artificial  climates.  The  florist  and  the  greenhouse- 
man  call  these  soils  "potting  soils"  because  they  are 
used  in  flower-pots.  Some  of  the  men  who  have 
written  books  about  plants  in  greenhouses  have  said 
that  nearly  every  kind  of  plant,  particularly  flowering 
plants,  must  have  a  particular  kind  of  soil.  The  books 
written  about  plants  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  nearly 
every  book  on  the  subject  in  England  at  this  day,  con- 
tain minute  and  special  directions  for  making  soils  for 
different  plants.  They  say,  for  geraniums  you  must 
have  one  kind  of  soil,  for  mignonnette  another,  for  the 
Chinese  primrose  still  another,  and  so  on ;  whereas, 
for  nearly  all  plants  it  does  not  make  the  slightest 


Il8  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

difference  whatever.  If  you  have  two  different  kinds 
of  soil,  you  can  raise  in  these  every  variety  of  plant 
to  be  found  in  any  common  greenhouse  or  in  any 
window  in  a  dwelling-house. 

Suppose  we  take  a  geranium.  We  wish  to  have  it 
grow  and  bloom  in  the  house.  We  might  take  the 
flower-pot  to  the  garden,  and  fill  it  with  soil,  and  in 
this  plant  our  geranium.  It  might  live  and  even  grow, 
but  it  would  grow  far  better  if  we  prepared  a  special 
soil  for  it.  The  soil  of  a  garden  is  usually  too  heavy, 
has  too  much  clay,  and  is  comparatively  poor  and 
exhausted.  If  we  pull  up  a  geranium  in  the  garden, 
we  shall  find  it  has  extended  its  roots  in  every  direc- 
tion, perhaps  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  on  each  side 
of  the  stem.  If  this  same  plant  is  to  live  in  a  pot,  it 
is  plain  the  roots  must  be  very  much  cramped  and 
crowded.  Consequently  we  must  do  something  to 
make  up  for  this,  and  we  make  the  soil  placed  in  the 
pot  very  rich.  Take  a  plant  that  has  been  growing  for 
some  time  in  a  pot,  and,  holding  it  upside  down  in 
the  hand,  gently  tap  the  edge  of  the  pot  on  a  bench 
or  table.  The  plant  easily  slips  out  of  the  pot,  and 
we  see  its  roots  have  twisted  themselves  round  and 
round  in  the  pot  in  their  search  for  food  in  the  soil. 
If  the  plant  has  been  growing  in  the  pot  for  a  long 
time,  the  soil  will  seem  to  have  greatly  changed.  We 
may  shake  all  the  loose  soil  out  of  the  matted  roots, 
and  find  only  a  small  part  of  the  original  soil  —  per- 
haps not  enough  to  half  fill  the  empty  flower-pot.  If 
we  take  this  old  soil  out  of  a  pot  where  a  plant  has 


ARTIFICIAL  SOILS.  1 19 

been  growing  for  a  long  time,  and,  putting  it  in  another 
pot,  attempt  to  make  another  plant  grow  in  it,  we  shall 
fail.  The  second  plant  refuses  to  grow  in  that  old 
soil,  for  it  is  completely  worn  out.  The  first  plant  has 
taken  all  it  could  find,  and  there  is  nothing  left  but 
barren  sand  and  waste  matter. 

If  our  geranium  is  to  thrive  and  grow,  we  must  have 
a  light  and  a  rich  soil.  It  must  be  light,  sandy,  and 
porous,  because  we  cannot  till  the  soil  in  a  pot.  The 
best  we  can  do  is  to  occasionally  stir  the  surface  to 
let  in  the  air.  It  must  be  sandy,  to  permit  water  to 
flow  through  it  easily,  and  the  roots  of  the  soil  to  find 
their  way  without  difficulty.  It  must  be  rich,  because 
we  have  only  a  very  small  space  in  which  the  plant  can 
grow.  Its  roots  cannot  extend  freely  in  every  direc- 
tion in  search  of  food,  and  all  that  it  requires  must  be 
abundant  and  in  easy  reach. 

Three  materials  are  needed  to  make  potting  soils 
for  all  the  common,  quick-growing  greenhouse  plants, 
fruits,  and  vegetables ;  and  with  one  more  we  can 
make  soils  suitable  for  every  plant  that  grows  under 
glass.  We  will  begin  with  the  soil  for  the  quick- 
growing  or  soft-wooded  plants,  as  they  are  the  most 
numerous,  —  the  geraniums,  fuchsias,  primroses,  roses, 
begonias,  chrysanthemums,  etc.  For  the  organic 
matter  we  can  take  sods  cut  from  a  pasture  or  grass- 
land. These  must  be  cut  when  green,  and  piled  up 
in  a  heap  in  some  dry  spot  out  of  doors,  —  that  is, 
away  from  swampy  or  wet  soil.  In  about  three  months 
the  grass,  plants,  and  roots  will  completely  decay,  and 


I2O  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

we  shall  have  a  light,  loose  soil,  almost  wholly  com- 
posed of  organic  matter ;  and  this  we  store  in  a  shed, 
or  in  barrels  under  cover.  If  we  cannot  get  sods,  dig 
up  the  loose  top  soil  under  the  trees  in  the  woods. 
This  too  will  be  almost  wholly  organic,  because  com- 
posed of  the  remains  of  the  dead  leaves  fallen  in  the 
course  of  years  beneath  the  trees.  If  we  cannot  ob- 
tain either  of  these,  get  the  fine  top  soil  from  a  field 
where  farm-crops  have  been  cultivated ;  choosing,  if 
possible,  a  field  that  has  only  recently  been  ploughed 
up  from  grass.  For  the  inorganic  part,  use  clean  sharp 
river-sand.  If  it  cannot  be  found  along  the  river- 
bank  or  by  the  shore  of  fresh-water  ponds,  take  it 
from  any  sandbank  ;  but  test  it  before  using,  to  see  if 
it  contains  clay.  To  test  the  sand,  burn  it  as  described 
in  our  experiments.  Common  mason's  sand  can  also 
be  bought  at  the  mason's  yard,  and  may  be  used  if  no 
other  can  be  found.  Sea-sand  can  be  used,  but  it 
must  be  freely  washed  in  fresh  water  to  get  rid  of  the 
salt.  It  is  also  best  to  wash  the  mason's  sand  to  pre- 
vent any  danger  from  salt.  The  fine  gravel  found  at 
the  side  of  a  road  or  paved  street  can  also  be  used  if 
carefully  sifted.  For  fertilizers  the  very  best  material 
is  stable-manure.  It  should  be  piled  in  a  heap  under 
cover  for  three  months,  and  occasionally  turned  over 
with  a  fork.  It  will  be  then  completely  decayed,  and 
will  be  dry  and  clean.  If  this  cannot  be  obtained,  a 
good  fertilizer  can  be  made  by  mixing  equal  parts  of 
guano  and  ground  bones.  A  small  proportion  of  wood- 
ashes  may  also  be  added  with  benefit. 


ARTIFICIAL   SOILS.  121 

These  three  —  the  organic  matter  (old  sods  or  leaf- 
mould  or  soil),  the  sand,  and  the  fertilizer  (whether  it 
is  from  the  stable,  or  is  a  mixture  of  commercial  fertil- 
izers) —  should  be  mixed  in  equal  proportions.  The 
materials  should  be  well  sifted  to  free  them  from  lumps 
and  from  worms  or  grubs,  and  completely  and  thor- 
oughly mixed  together  when  dry.  The  best  plan  is  to 
store  them  in  a  dry  place,  free  from  hard  frost,  and  to 
mix  them  as  wanted  for  potting.  The  mixing  should 
be  done  on  a  broad  table ;  and,  if  the  materials  are 
dry  and  dusty,  only  enough  water  should  be  used  to 
merely  lay  the  dust.  A  wet  and  muddy  potting  soil 
should  never  be  used. 

For  the  hard-wood  plants,  the  orange,  the  camellia, 
heaths,  azalias,  rubber-trees,  cape-jessamine,  etc.,  we 
use  the  same  materials  with  the  addition  of  old  peat. 
This  peat,  or  meadow-muck,  is  a  black  soil  composed 
almost  wholly  of  organic  matter,  and  is  found  in  bogs 
and  swamps.  It  must  be  dug  up  and  piled  in  a  heap 
for  a  whole  winter  before  it  can  be  used.  It  must  be 
placed  in  a  pile  out  of  doors,  in  some  well-drained 
place,  —  and  for  this  reason  it  is  best  to  take  it  away 
from  the  swamp,  —  and  left  to  freeze  all  winter.  After 
being  exposed  to  frost,  it  breaks  up  into  a  fine  black, 
powdery  soil,  that  should  be  stored  in  barrels  in  a  shed 
or  cellar.  To  prepare  a  soil  for  these  slow-growing, 
hard-wood  plants,  make  a  mixture  of  the  leaf-mould 
and  the  peat,  using  one-third  of  the  leaf-mould  (old 
sods  or  soil)  and  two-thirds  of  peat.  Next  mix  this 
with  an  equal  proportion  of  sand.  This  must  form 


122  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

the  larger  part  of  the  soil,  and  only  a  small  proportion 
of  manure  is  needed.  Measure  the  mixture,  and  to 
each  four  quarts  or  four  pecks  add  one  quart  or  one 
peck  of  the  manure,  using  with  it  a  little  wood-ashes 
and  ground  bones. 

For  lettuce,  cabbage,  and  other  small  plants  in  a 
hot-bed  or  in  a  plant  and  forcing  house  where  the 
plants  are  cultivated  in  boxes  or  on  benches,  and  for 
rose-houses,  cucumber  and  melon  houses,  a  mixture 
of  equal  parts  of  good  soil  from  a  field,  coarse  sand, 
and  old  manure  or  some  good  complete  commercial 
fertilizer,  should  be  used.  The  soil  need  not  be  sifted 
except  for  small  plants ;  and,  if  common  manure  is 
used,  it  need  not  be  broken  up  so  fine  as  for  potting 
soils.  For  roses  the  proportion  of  fertilizer  should  be 
larger  than  for  any  of  the  common  flowering  plants. 
In  regard  to  the  actual  work  of  potting  plants,  we  will 
consider  that  in  detail  in  the  next  book  of  the  Chau- 
tauqua  Series. 

xxrv.  MAKING  NEW  SOILS.  —  It  will  often  hap- 
pen, that  in  building  a  house  a  bare  or  barren  spot  is 
selected  for  the  site ;  and  when  the  house  is  finished, 
it  is  surrounded  by  barren,  dusty  gravel  or  sand,  some- 
times adorned  with  pieces  of  brick  and  other  waste 
materials  left  by  the  contractors.  We  must,  of  course, 
furnish  the  place,  and,  if  we  do  nothing  more,  have 
a  rug  of  grass  put  before  the  windows,  and  perhaps  a 
few  ornaments  in  the  way  of  shrubs  or  trees.  Neither 
plants,  shrubs,  nor  grass  will  grow  on  such  a  spot ;  and 
a  special  soil  must  be  prepared  for  them.  First  of  all, 


ARTIFICIAL  SOILS.  123 

see  that  the  place  is  dry.  See  that  the  water  runs 
away  quickly  after  a  rain;  and  then  from  some  old 
pasture  dig  up  a  quantity  of  sods,  and  place  them  up- 
side down  two  and  three  deep  all  over  the  spot  where 
the  grass  is  to  grow.  They  will  in  time  decay,  and 
help  form  a  good  soil.  In  place  of  sods,  cart  on  the 
top  soil  from  some  field,  and  spread  it  not  less  than 
one  foot  deep  over  the  place.  Add  about  one  cart- 
load of  sand  to  every  three  loads  of  soil  (unless  it  is 
very  sandy) ,  and  add  one  load  of  manure  to  every  four 
loads  of  soil.  If  old  muck  can  be  procured,  use  one 
load  of  muck  to  every  two  of  loam,  and  use  more  sand. 
In  this  way,  even  out  of  poor  materials,  a  fair  soil  can 
be  made,  and  every  year  it  will  be  improved  by  culture 
and  additional  fertilizers.  A  good  plan  will  be  to  sow 
it  first  with  clover,  and  when  well  grown  to  dig  it  into 
the  soil  as  green  manure. 

The  site  selected  for  a  house  may  be  a  garden  with 
good  soil.  In  this  case  all  the  top  soil  should  be  care- 
fully dug  up,  and  piled  in  heaps  in  a  safe  corner  till 
the  last  mechanic  has  left  the  place.  Contractors  often 
have  a  habit  of  digging  a  cellar  for  a  new  house  with- 
out the  slightest  regard  to  the  soil ;  throwing  out  the 
stones,  gravel,  and  useless  material  under  the  subsoil 
right  on  top  of  the  natural  soil,  and  burying  it  out 
of  sight  forever.  Such  a  waste  of  good  soil  is  simply 
wicked.  Nature  may  have  been  at  work  a  thousand 
years  to  make  that  little  bit  of  good  soil,  that  sweet 
grasses,  the  wild  rose  and  aster  might  bloom  in  it,  or 
the  amiable  potato  and  cheerful  squash  find  a  home 


124  TALKS  ABOUT    "HE  SOIL. 

there ;  and  the  blundering  cellar-digger  destroys  it  all 
in  a  day,  and  thinks  he  has  done  no  harm.  People 
who  pass  the  house  years  after  it  is  built,  and  see  the 
dusty  yard,  the  half-starved  grass,  the  sickly  plants, 
know  better,  and  may  justly  think  him  a  fool  and  a 
dunce. 

It  often  happens  that  a  field  has  a  soil  containing 
too  much  sand.  It  would  produce  more  if  richer  in 
organic  remains.  Green-manuring  will  help  ;  but  if  a 
soil  rich  in  organic  matter  is  near,  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  bring  some  of  this  soil  to  the  sandy  field. 
The  best  material  for  making  an  artificial  soil  in  this 
way  is  to  get  peat  from  a  bog  or  meadow,  pile  it  up 
one  winter  that  it  may  be  broken  up  by  the  frost,  and 
then  scatter  it  over  the  sandy  field,  and  plough  it  in. 
This  use  of  muck  for  improving  soils  is  quite  common 
in  some  parts  of  the  country,  and  one  or  more  good 
books  have  already  been  written  showing  how  it  should 
be  done.  Purely  artificial  soils  are  also  to  be  found 
in  New  England  and  New  Jersey,  wherever  cranberries 
are  cultivated.  The  peaty  soil  of  the  meadows  is 
covered  with  sand,  and  on  this  compound  soil  the 
cranberry  flourishes  wonderfully. 

Finally,  we  can  change  the  character  of  some  soils 
by  artificial  means,  without  adding  any  thing  to  them. 
In  many  parts  of  the  country,  there  are  meadows, 
particularly  near  small  streams,  where  none  of  our 
useful  plants  seem  to  flourish.  The  soil  is  rich,  deep, 
and  black,  and  to  all  appearance  it  is  very  good  soil. 
It  is  good  soil,  for  it  is  covered  with  many  kinds  of 


ARTIFICIAL  SOILS.  125 

plants  that  seem  to  flourish  wonderfully.  Unfortu- 
nately, these  plants  are  aquatic  or  semi-aquatic  plants, 
and  seem  to  enjoy  a  wet  soil.  They  plainly  point  to 
all  the  trouble.  The  soil  is  wet.  These  flags,  mosses, 
and  reeds,  these  rapid-growing  water  plants,  plainly 
tell  us  just  why  our  farm-crops  will  not  grow  there. 
The  water  lingers  after  every  rain,  and  in  the  spring  it 
is  wet  and  soppy  there.  In  the  winter  there  are  little 
patches  of  ice,  and  in  long  rains  the  water  seeps 
through  the  grasses  and  moss  in  sluggish  rivulets. 
These  wet  places  vary  from  actual  bogs  and  swamps, 
to  meadows  that  have  pools  and  puddles  lingering 
after  every  rain.  All  are  unfit  for  good  crops,  and 
must  be  improved  by  draining. 

Drainage,  or  treating  any  soil  so  that  its  surplus 
water  will  run  away,  is  a  great  science  by  itself.  We 
cannot  now  take  it  up,  yet  we  must  learn  to  recognize 
any  soil  that  needs  it.  Wherever  the  common  sphag- 
num moss  grows  under  the  grass,  wherever  aquatic 
plants  appear,  wherever  water  lingers  in  pools  after  a 
rain,  the  soil  needs  draining.  If  we  find  such  a  place, 
and  wish  to  cultivate  it  and  make  it  produce  good 
paying  crops,  we  must  get  rid  of  this  surplus  water 
that  clings  to  the  soil  like  water  in  a  sponge.  There 
are  many  ways  of  doing  this ;  some  cheap  and  easy 
but  not  very  permanent,  others  more  costly  but  very 
efficient  and  durable.  The  soil  must  be  cleared  of- 
water  by  finding  or  making  some  opening  where  the 
water  can  escape  to  a  lower  level,  and  thus  leave  the 
soil  dry.  A  ditch  dug  through  the  field  will  drain 


126  TALKS  ABOUT  THE  SOIL. 

the  soil  on  each  side  for  many  feet.  A  drain  made 
of  stones,  or  porous  earthenware  pipes  called  tiles, 
may  be  made  under  the  soil ;  and  through  this  drain 
the  water  will  run  away  as  fast  as  it  falls.  Whether  it 
is  best  to  drain  any  particular  soil,  how  it  is  best  to  do 
it,  are  questions  that  would  require  a  long  time  to 
answer.  First,  decide  whether  your  land  needs  drain- 
ing. Next,  see  if  better  land,  that  does  not  need 
draining,  cannot  be  bought  for  less  money  than  the 
cost  of  draining.  If  you  decide  it  is  best  to  drain, 
do  it  well  and  thoroughly ;  for  it  is  a  permanent  in- 
vestment that  will  last  long  years  after  your  children 
have  ceased  to  cultivate  the  land,  or  have  sold  it  for 
house-lots.  In  any  case  it  will  always  be  a  benefit,  as 
it  makes  the  soil  dryer,  and  consequently  warmer  and 
lighter  and  more  easily  worked,  and  makes  the  neigh- 
borhood more  healthful.  Great  sums  of  money  have 
been  spent  in  this  and  other  countries,  in  drainage- 
works  ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  such  works  have 
added  millions  of  dollars  to  the  value  of  farm-lands, 
and  driven  away  malaria  and  kindred  diseases,  greatly 
to  the  benefit  of  the  people  who  so  wisely  improved 
the  soil  given  to  them  by  the  Creator. 

We  have  now  finished  our  studies  of  this  singular 
and  beautiful  carpet  that  covers  the  rocky  skeleton 
of  our  earth.  We  have  seen  much  that  is  curious  and 
interesting,  and  have  gone  just  far  enough  to  see  how 
much  there  is  yet  beyond  equally  curious  and  inter- 
esting, had  we  time  to  study  it.  We  have  been  look- 


ARTIFICIAL   SOILS.  I2/ 

ing  at  the  soil  as  the  home  of  the  plants,  because 
plants  give  us  food,  clothing,  and  wealth  from  the 
ground.  We  have,  in  our  first  book  of  this  series, 
seen  how  the  air,  the  wind,  the  sun,  and  the  rain 
affect  the  lives  of  plants ;  and  in  this  book  seen  some- 
thing of  the  way  in  which  plants  are  affected  by  the 
soil  in  which  they  grow.  Plants  live  in  the  soil,  and 
are  affected  by  the  weather ;  and  for  these  two  rea- 
sons we  have  now  examined  both  weather  and  soil. 
We  can  next  turn  to  the  plants  themselves,  living 
things  full  of  beauty,  governed  by  curious  and  benefi- 
cent laws,  and  opening  to  us  a  wonderful  range  of 
the  most  singular  and  fascinating  study.  To  this  new 
and  delightful  work  we  will  go  on  in  the  next  book 
of  this  series,  feeling  sure  that  all  we  have  already 
learned  will  be  of  the  greatest  value  in  helping  us  to 
understand  the  ways  and  habits  of  our  friends  the 
plants. 


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